Taki
by xAzusax
Summary: Aomine's life was going great. Kise loved him, and he was scouted to play in America. But on the day of departure, Kise left him and he boarded the plane alone. Five years later, Aomine returns to Japan, not quite over his past love. He seeks an explanation, and his whole world is turned upside down when it shows up in the form of a little girl who looks just like Kise.
1. Chapter 1: Long Time No See

_Long, strong arms pushed him away, rejecting the blue haired teen._

_"I'm sorry Aominecchi, but I can't go with you."_

_The blue haired boy gripped his lover's wrist and snarled, "What bullshit are you spouting out now, Kise? You promised that you'd come with me, you little bastard. Why the fuck are you backing out now?"_

_Amber eyes that he had fallen in love with long ago turned dark, and they shifted themselves away from him. "I only said I'd go, because you wouldn't have accepted otherwise."_

_"Hell yeah I wouldn't," he gripped harder and Kise winced, "That still stands too. Get your ass on this plane right now or I'll get off too."_

_"Let go of me, Aominecchi."_

_"Come with me."_

_"No," the blonde said firmly._

_Glaring, Aomine frowned, "Fine. Then I'll be getti – " _

_"No," the boy said again, "You're going to America. They scouted you, and this is a once in a lifetime opportunity."_

_"Fuck yeah it is, but I'm not leaving you. Cut the crap!" He yanked Kise's arm so hard that the model thought his arm was going to get pulled out of the socket. Panicking, he yelled out._

_"Kagamicchi!"_

_Aomine felt a blow to his back and let go of Kise. He coughed and turned violently to see who had dared to get physical with him. Towering above his crouched form, he found Kagami Taiga._

_"Screw off," he spat, "This is between me and Kise. If you get anymore involved, I'll kill you."_

_Kagami ignored the tanned boy's threat – much to his annoyance – and grabbed hold of him. The big red head then proceeded to lug Aomine back into the plane. As much as he tried to struggle, being forced to walk backwards threw him off, and it didn't help him when Kise shoved him inside. The two taller men fell backwards through the entrance of the plane door and landed roughly on the floor. Aomine watched as Kise advanced slowly up the stairs and bent down, lowering his face so it could meet his own. _

_"Aominecchi," he whispered, "I'm not going, but you will – and that's final."_

_"Shut up, Kise! That's not what's going to happen! Tell me, goddammit, why won't you come with me. You're my boyfriend for fuck's sake!"_

_The next thing Aomine felt was a sharp, painful sting across his left cheek. He reached it with one hand to feel the spot, cringing as his large fingers made contact at the bruising, warm flesh. In rage, he looked around to find the cause of his injury, only to find nothing but Kise's raised hand, palm sweaty and red. _

_"Not anymore," he heard the blonde boy say, quietly._

_Helplessly, he watched as the model turned around and walked down the steps. He continued to stare after the plane door shut, and didn't stop even as the aircraft roared to life. _

_Moments later, he was in the air, on his way to America._

_It wasn't until then that he realized what had happened._

_It wasn't until then that he fully came to understand that:_

_Kise had slapped him._

_Kise had broken up with him._

_and last but not least:_

_Kise didn't turn back at all, not even once._

* * *

Aomine woke up in a cold sweat, heart racing and lips trembling. _Just a dream, _he thought,_ that was a long time ago, I'm okay now..._

It's been five years now, since that day. The day when the basketball pro had been given the offer of his dreams... and stripped of the love of his life. Normally, he wouldn't have looked back as basketball was his one true passion, but Kise... he was _really something_. Closing his eyes behind the safe cover of his own tanned hand, he unlocked the gate that usually blocked up his memories of _him_. Their first meeting, Kise's constant one-on-one challenges, the other boy's confession, their first kiss, their first time – the bittersweet pieces of his happiest era flowed out endlessly and he could feel them heal his shattered heart, while also tearing it apart again in a vicious cycle. Half a decade later, you'd expect him to have forgotten. But Aomine knew, you just don't simply forget a love like theirs.

Despite all this hurt, he was still able to play as he usually did in his games in the NBA. Frankly, it was only basketball that could distract him long enough to keep him sane (which was ironic really...basketball was what tore him away from his love). During the nights afterwards though, nothing could stop his muse from haunting him in the unforgiving dark. If his coach didn't prohibit the use of drugs or alcohol during the seasons, Aomine knew that he'd have spent every waking moment on them, just so Kise would fade away. Just so he wouldn't have to think about how he was doing back in Japan. It helped him stop wondering if Kise had found someone else, someone who wouldn't leave for America like he did. Someone who thought they could love him as much as he did. Someone who would be kissing the model's soft lips right now and whispering sweet words before turning off the lights and –

"Shit," he murmured.

Biting his bottom lip, he willed himself to stop thinking about it. Kise was the past. When he got to Japan, he wouldn't look for him – no. He would meet up with his old friends and catch up. If Kise were to show up, well, he'd see the new Aomine. Aomine would pretend he didn't notice Kise until the other man spoke up. Even then, Aomine would act indifferent, and Kise would realize how stupid he was to have broken up with him and then...

_And then we'd get back together again..._

Who was he kidding? He still wasn't over the blonde.

"Sir?" a soft and gentle voice called out.

Aomine let one eye peek out through his fingers. "Yes?"

"Are you okay?" the flight attendant had on a worried expression, "May I help you with anything?"

"Oh," _You could build me a time machine to start off with, "_Could you turn the air vent away from me? The AC is drying up my eyes."

The young lady smiled and reached to adjust the vent as he wanted, but stopped upon reaching it.

"Sir?"

"What is it now?"

"Your air vent is closed..."

Aomine went quiet and feigned sleep, fully aware that the warm, salty liquid that slid down his cheek was not the result of dry eyes.

* * *

The rumbling of the aircraft grew louder until the thundering sounds of the engine awoke Aomine from his deep slumber. Wiping the drool off with his wrist, he squinted his eyes, irritated from the rude awakening. His head throbbed painfully from the hangover he had after downing all of those beers. Groaning, he asked the flight attendant for a glass of water, who happily served him. Ignoring the squeals the other girls made when the attendant returned to the cabin, he chugged half the bottle before leaning back and sighing. What the hell did Kise do to him, he wondered. How could anyone have been able to make him feel as pitiful as he did now? With no one to provide him with an answer, and he too hung-over to utilize his tired mind, he glanced out the large window next to his seat. As his vision returned back to normal, he realized that the sudden noise was due to the fact that they had been landing. Japanese signs could be seen in the distance.

_I'm back,_ he thought absentmindedly.

Cringing, he managed somehow to stand up and walk out fairly normally (if stumbling around as if he was a bee with a broken wing looked normal). Warm, bright sunshine greeted his dark skin, and despite the heat, a refreshing breeze helped clear his fuzzy brain. Descending the stairs, the blue haired man looked around for his ride. Akashi had said that he'd send someone to pick him up, since Aomine no longer had anything left in Japan, let alone a car. For this vacation of his, he'd leech off whoever was the poor sap his former captain had sent.

Unfortunately, not a familiar sight was to be seen. Annoyed, he walked towards the airport gates, deciding to call Akashi. When the man didn't pick up, Aomine gave up and walked to hail a taxi. He was about to exit the automatic doors leading to the cab pick-up zone when a hand grabbed onto his.

"What do you – oh.." a mop of light blue hair and eyes stared blankly up at him, "Tetsu. What are you doing here?"

"Obviously to pick you up, Aomine-kun."

The basketball player snorted, "You're late."

"I've been next to you ever since you got off the plane," the smaller boy pouted, feeling falsely accused.

"... Still got zero presence, as always, huh?"

"You're still as rude as ever, Aomine-kun," but he smiled while saying that.

The two men exchanged fist bumps and Aomine followed his best friend into his car. It was kind of small, and the long-limbed pro found himself folded uncomfortably.

"Oi, Tetsu, couldn't you have gotten a bigger car?"

"You're just abnormally tall, Aomine-kun."

He scowled, but knew there wasn't any point in talking further. The tanned man instead chose to stare out the window, surprised at how little the neighbourhood had changed. The convenience store that the Teiko basketball team had visited together remained open, and he smirked when he saw a group of high school boys horsing around outside of it. He also remembered that it was there that he always found magazines with Kise in them. The last he saw had been about Kise's hair. Apparently, people were fascinated how he was able to keep his blonde hair so smooth and silky (weird thing to say about a guy, in his opinion, but he couldn't deny that it was true). He too, had loved the shade of blonde his ex-boyfriend had donned. No one else had such a pure colour... nothing else could match it. He'd recognize it anywhere. It was just like that blob over there on the court...

Aomine slammed his hand against the passenger seat handle and yelled, "Stop the car, Tetsu!"

"I can't, Aomine-kun!" the other man said, "We're in the middle of the road!"

At that moment, Aomine forgot his vow to not look for Kise. He was sure, _so sure,_ that on that court was him. Frustrated, he kicked the door and let out a yell.

"Calm down Aomine-kun!" Kuroko glared at him, "There's a parking lot up ahead. I'll park and you an get out from there."

Tapping impatiently against the car's windowsill, Aomine clenched his teeth together. He needed to see the model again, whether to move on or to find out that he still loved him not just in memory – but in reality – it didn't matter. For five years, what he really wanted was an explanation on the sudden break up. He didn't care if he was contradictory right now or if he was changing his mind too often... he was a man who acted on impulse anyways.

After what felt like a millennium, Kuroko parked his car and Aomine slammed the door opened, not bothering to close it. With long strides, he ran back towards the old basketball courts all while ignoring Kuroko's shouts and the numbness he felt in his legs. He ignored the lingering hangover and focused on the fear of Kise slipping away again. Neglecting rules, Aomine ran across the car filled streets receiving honks and complaints from the shocked drivers. He ran as fast as his strong legs could carry him and entered the courts while breathing heavily. Left, right, behind and in front – he whipped his head in every direction, frantically searching for the familiar golden hair... to no avail.

"Fuck!" he roared, punching the ground with his bare fist. The frustrated basketball player crouched down and hung his head low between his arms to contain his disappointment. He cursed with every bad word he could think of and gritted his teeth.

Then the recognizable reverberation of a basketball filled his ears. The sound of shuffling sneakers on asphalt came closer, as the well-known material graced his ankle.

He didn't move... he waited for whoever it was to come and talk to him. Aomine needed someone to beat up. The person took longer than he expected to arrive before him, and he could hear heavy pants. Holding in his bubbling anger, he waited for whoever it was to speak up, just so he could snap at him. A long silence followed though, and Aomine felt greatly impatient. Just as he was about to raise his head, the person spoke.

"Sorry, mister, if I hit you with my ball. Are you hurt?"

A deep masculine voice or maybe even a cracking voice that belonged to an awkward teenager – those were the types of voices the pro expected. No way in hell did he expect the sweet, high pitched voice of a child. Taking a sneak peek from beneath his arms, he found a pair of ridiculously small shoes. Further up, he saw two teeny hands clamped together nervously.

He sighed. No matter how angry he was, he couldn't beat up a child. Picking up the basketball that laid at his feet, he handed it back, "No, I'm fine. Here – take it..."

The child in front of him made his heart throb painfully.

"Kise..."

"What's up, mister?"

_Impossible, _Aomine thought, _this is a child and well, last time I checked Kise was a grown man. Plus, she's a little girl..._

There was no denying the resemblance though. Her hair was the exact same shade, and her face looked _just like his._

He grabbed hold of her. "Kise..."

She squirmed, "Let go, mister!"

_"Let go of me, Aominecchi"_

Aomine dragged the slowly panicking girl with him towards the parking lot where Kuroko would surely be. Kuroko owed him answers.

"Mister! Please stop," she cried, "I'm sorry but I can't go with you!"

_"I'm sorry Aominecchi, but I can't go with you."_

"..."

The young girl was hysterical now, twisting and biting Aomine's wrist.

"Papa!"

"Takicchi!"

Aomine froze. His blood turning cold.

"Let go of my daughter, you bastard!"

A strong force pulled him, turning him over. Before he knew what was going on, his grip on the wailing child fell slack, and an angry fist smashed into his left cheek. The impact caused the pro to fall to the ground. But neither his bleeding gums or throbbing cheek were on his mind.

There, hovering above him was the man he's been searching for – the man he had so desperately wanted to see all these years ago. His hair had grown longer, but Aomine could tell without a doubt that this was him in all of his golden beauty.

"Kise..."

The man froze at Aomine's raspy voice.

"... Long time no see... Aominechhi."

* * *

A/N: My second fanfic T^T. Thank you to everyone who read my debut one, "More Than Once." Especially to those who added a review. I'm happy to hear back from you guys! So here's my second story, which this time, will have multiple chapters. It was also based on a KuroBasu prompt, and I've roughly planned the whole story. I felt like I was watching a korean drama when I was writing this LOL.

By the way, anyone figure out the meaning if Taki yet? Well... besides the fact that it's a name... xD

No idea what else to say except for that I hope you guys enjoy reading this and hope that you'll look forward to future chapters - (I know my writing isn't that great, but please bare with me!) I'll try to make the following chapters really entertaining/interesting! :D


	2. Chapter 2: Work?

_"Aominecchi."_

Hearing that nickname after five years startled and scared Aomine. He could feel the hairs on his arms stand up and he swallowed.

"Long time... no see," he replied.

Kise's expression was unreadable as he stood there silently, before he reached down to pick up the shaken child.

"Everything's all right now, Takicchi," he cooed, eyes softening, crinkling at the edges. In the man's embrace, the girl wrapped her own tiny arms around him and buried her face in his chest.

Clueless, Aomine wondered why the two of them were so intimate. Kise didn't have a younger sister... so cousin, perhaps? It took a moment for him to digest all that had happened, and then he recalled that four letter word she had uttered.

_"Papa."_

The basketball pro bit his bottom lip and squinted his eyes. No, that couldn't have been possible. Kise couldn't have a child because that would mean that...

But it was possible, and he knew it.

Summoning a lifetime's worth of courage, he struggled to stand up. Looking his ex-lover in the eyes, he said, barely audible, "She... she's your daughter?"

The other man didn't bother to look at him, sight glued to the infant that he held, "Yes."

"Don't lie!" he shouted, hand shooting out to grab the blonde by the collar, "There's no way that can be true."

The sudden action caused the child to whimper, and Kise murmured comforting words to her before removing the enraged man's hand. "You can see for yourself, she's mine."

In his mind he had knew, but hearing it come out of Kise's lips hurt him more than he thought it would. For five years, he remained in love with this man. For five years, he endured the heart break and pain. For five _fucking _years, he still believed that maybe his boyfriend broke up with him for a good reason.

No, he had left him because he had a child... and when there was a child, there was a mother.

Kise had left him for a woman.

Gritting his teeth, Aomine drew back his right fist and was about to punch this asshole when a voice screamed.

"Don't hurt papa!"

He didn't know why it stopped him. He didn't know why her voice shook him to the core and made him want to curl up in a ball and cry. Trembling in uncertaincy, he lowered his hand and looked to the floor, unsure of what to do.

"Are you done?" a cold, unfamiliar voice said. Kise's voice wasn't like that, it was happy and sweet, at least in his memories.

Aomine didn't answer – no, he couldn't answer. A heavy silence ensued, before the man heard the sound of footsteps heading past him. "Goodbye, Aominecchi. It was nice to meet you again."

When the sounds faded in the distance, Aomine's legs finally gave out. He fell to the asphalt for a second time, knees under him and palms on the ground as if he was looking for stability. Tears didn't fall, but he could feel the tear of his heart.

"Damn it!" He shouted as he grabbed a rock and threw it against the metal fence, creating a loud, metallic ring in the quiet court.

* * *

"Papa, papa," the blonde little girl sang sadly.

"What is it, sweetie?" Kise smiled at his little angel.

"Isn't that Tetsu-kun?"

"Kurokocchi? Where?"

Taki raised her stubby finger and pointed out towards the traffic light. There, as she had said, was a small man with light blue hair.

Coincidentally, the other man had turned and noticed the pair as soon as Kise had and began sprinting towards them. Panting, he desperately asked, "Kise-kun, Taki-san, have you seen Aomine-kun?"

Kise winced, "He's at the basketball court."

"Thank you, Kise-kun," Kuroko heaved before turning.

"Kurokocchi?"

The man stopped mid-step, "Yes, Kise-kun?"

"I told him about Takicchi."

"So he knows that she's –"

Kise smiled ruefully. "My daughter," he finished Kuroko's sentence.

The two men exchanged looks and the smaller man turned around to leave. Before running towards the courts, he said over his shoulder, "It's about time you tell him the truth, Kise-kun. He deserves to know."

Kise watched as his former team mate shrunk and disappeared into the crowd. When he was no longer in sight, the model too, returned to walking in the direction of his home. Small arms clutched him harder, and he was grateful for Taki's warmth.

"Papa," she said, "Did that bad man hurt you?"

"No," he said, kissing her forehead.

"But papa is crying," she reached up and wiped away a single tear that rolled down. "If papa is crying, then papa is hurting."

Kise stayed silent.

"That bad man almost hit papa and raised his voice... is papa crying because he shouted at you?" she continued, "but papa doesn't have to cry because Taki will teach that bad man a lesson. Taki will protect papa."

Kise let out a sad chuckle and lifted her to eye level. "Thank you, Takicchi... but it's not Aominecchi's fault. Papa is the bad man. Papa is the one who is hurting Aominecchi."

Taki frowned, "What did Papa do?"

"I denied him an angel, thinking that it was the right thing to do."

* * *

Kuroko felt suffocated by the tense atmosphere in Aomine's hotel room. Through his peripheral vision, he could see the basketball player laying on the king-sized bed. They had decided last minute to book a suite for the tanned man instead of going to Kuroko's house to crash. Even if it wasn't said in so many words, Kuroko knew that it was because of Kise.

Unable to take the awkward silence any longer, he decided to dive right into the shark's mouth.

"I saw Kise today," he started, "And it seems that you did too."

"Shut up," the man responded, "I don't want to talk about this."

Kuroko knew that Aomine needed to talk, more than the other man let on, so he continued, "You must have met Taki-san too."

Aomine threw a pillow and the smaller man and growled, "_I said, _that I don't want to talk about this. Are you deaf, Tetsu?"

Kuroko returned the glare with his own calm and levelled expression, telling his friend that he knew better – that while he didn't want to talk about it, _he needed to._

The taller man leaned his head onto the wall and gently felt his swollen cheek. After Kuroko treated it, the pain had slightly subsided. As each man fell into his own thoughts, the room fell still once more.

"Why didn't you tell me?" This time, it was Aomine who broke the quietness. He asked this question in an uncharacteristic fashion: quietly, and with a hint of the pain he usually hid deep down inside of him.

"Kise-kun wanted to keep her a secret," he replied, "He made us all promise him."

Aomine slid off his bed and walked towards the fridge. Hand on the handle, he spoke, "So you thought that honouring his promise was more important than telling me the truth?"

"Aomine-kun, that's not – "

"Get out."

He didn't say it loudly, or menacingly, but something about his tone made Kuroko oblige. Almost as if on automatic, he opened the door and stepped out into the red carpet corridor. Finally recognizing that what he heard was the tone of extreme angst, he watched solemnly as the door closed, taking away his last image of Aomine-kun who stood with his back facing him with a can of beer in his hand.

* * *

"And you haven't heard of him since then?" Kuroko could hear the dismay in Akashi's voice.

"No. He doesn't pick up his phone, or answer his door. When I talked to the front desk, they were no help. He's even asked them to keep all of his activities private."

It has been almost a week since Kuroko saw the basketball player. Ever since finding out that Kise had a child in his absence, the pro had withdrawn. Now, without another option, he turned to their former captain, Akashi, for help.

On the other line, he could almost hear the wheels in the red headed man's mind turn. Since they met, Kuroko had seen first hand as to how much of a genius the other man was, and prayed desperately that he'd come up with a plan.

"All right, Tetsuya," Kuroko perked up at the sound of Akashi's voice, "I'll help. Bring Daiki to the address I tell you, and make sure he stays there until it closes."

Kuroko listened attentively to the former captain's words, while also making notes with a scrap of paper and a pen that he found on his wooden desk.

"Wait, Akashi-kun... This address, are you sure it's the right one?"

"I don't make mistakes, Tetsuya."

"Yes, I apologize, Akashi-kun." He thanked the man and said his goodbye. Staring at the scribbles on the flimsy material, he sighed. He didn't understand Akashi's plan just yet, but he did get that this was his last hope.

* * *

Tomorrow brought a day of warm sunshine, and Kuroko felt the sweat drip down his brows. Raising a hand to wipe his face, he quickly glanced towards Aomine who stood unhappily to his right. Although the basketball player had agreed to come (thanks to Akashi's orders), he could tell that the man was infuriated. Kuroko was also anxious: on one hand, he wanted to trust Akashi and help his best friend get it together; but on the other hand, he really didn't want to allow the pro to enter this building in his current mood.

Looming in front of them stood a large, white building, with walls covered in an array of colourful drawings. Large windows allowed the pair to look into some of the front rooms. In the center, through double doors, there was the front desk. A familiar, beautiful lady sat there, taking a phone call with a bright smile plastered on her face. To the left, was a large, spacious room filled with soft mats and a great variety of toys. Currently, it was empty, but Kuroko knew that it was only because it was mid-afternoon, which meant nap time. Yes, the smaller man was very familiar with this building, because he came here on a daily basis.

_Akashi Child Care Center, _a facility Akashi had built for Kise-kun, and also Kuroko's workplace.

"It's hot," Aomine complained.

"Yes," Kuroko agreed.

"Are we going in or what? Let's just get whatever Akashi wants over with."

"Yes..."

Leading the way, Kuroko walked nervously up to the secretary.

"Good morning, Tetsu-kun, Dai-chan!" she chirped.

"Good morning, Momoi-san," Kuroko smiled.

Aomine grunted, "Satsuki."

Momoi winced, worry creased on her large pink eyes but quickly returned to her cheerful disposition, "Akashi-kun is waiting for you two in the gym."

"Thank you, Momoi-san."

From memory, Kuroko knew that the gym was further in the back, behind the cafeteria and classrooms and just before the garden. Once again taking the lead, he ushered the apathetic man to follow him through the corridors which were lined with cubbies that had little backpacks hanging from each one and tiny shoes the size of Aomine's fist. Aomine scoffed at the works of messy artwork that hung above each one.

After a taking a left turn, the smaller man opened a heavy door and the two walked in to find Akashi standing in the center of the high ceiling gymnasium. Next to the red head, was a basketball rack filled with impossibly tiny balls, as well as kid-sized hoops that were about as tall as Aomine himself. Raising an eyebrow, the tanned man asked, "What the hell's all this?"

"Long time no see, Daiki," Akashi tilted his head, "And this is what it looks like – the equipment needed for a game of basketball."

The pro scoffed, "You want me to play with these toys? Why don't I just go connect the dots and colour between the lines while we're at it."

Letting out a wry smile, the former captain ignored Aomine's sarcasm. "No, you won't be playing. As for the other two activities, you're free to do those – but only on your own time. I'm sure it'll be good exercise for your brain."

Aomine's eye twitched in annoyance.

"However, the reason why you're here is, indeed, related to basketball though," he continued, "From today on, until the moment you leave for America again, you will work here."

"Work?"

"Yes, coincidentally, the sport for this month for our precious children is basketball."

Akashi threw one of the mini-sized balls at Aomine who caught it, fingers easily wrapping around it.

"Unfortunately, our instructor got into an... unfortunate _accident_."

The red head's grin gave Aomine goose bumps.

"So, I will be relying on you, Aomine-sensei. Oh but don't worry... I'll have Tetsuya teach along side you."

He must have heard it wrong, was what the pro thought, but those heterochromatic eyes said else wise. Squinting his eyes, he growled, "Quit joking, this is bullshit – and I won't do it, just so you know."

"Oh," his former captain strode towards him and from out of nowhere, whipped a pair of scissors, lightly grazing his tanned skin. The shorter man then pulled Aomine down to his knees and brought their faces close together. "But you will, Daiki. You can not defy me, my orders are absolute."

Wanting to say otherwise, but too afraid to open his mouth, Aomine glared at him... just as he heard the shuffles of light steps from across the hall. The door slid open, and with a wave of horror, Aomine groaned in defeat as he saw ten pairs of curious, wide eyes stare at him.

* * *

A/N: So here's chapter 2! It's another dramatic chapter! Sorry it's a bit shorter than chapter one, but you can look forward to a long-ish chapter 3. I hope you enjoyed it. Writing this, I wondered how long this series would be but honestly, I don't have a clue. Not too long, I know, but the story is still far from over too. Anyways, please look forward to Aomine-sensei in the next chapter as well as the interaction between him and a familiar little girl!


	3. Chapter 3: Ahomine-sensei

"Kuroko-sensei!"

"Ah, it's Akashi-sama!"

"Wow! Look at all the basketballs!"

"Eh? Who's the scary looking ganguro?"

"Must be a sensei."

"Are you going to teach us basketball, ganguro-sensei?"

Aomine never, was as flustered as he was at this moment while the interested children swarmed around him. Speechless, he gawked at the red head who bid them farewell.

"Tetsuya, I'll see you tonight, " he said in a seductive manner towards Kuroko.

Then, almost as if the dumbfounded pro was an after thought, he smirked at the doorway, "Have fun, Ganguro-sensei."

Flashing a gentle, fake smile towards the adoring children, Akashi left the gym.

"Shit," the basketball player muttered under his breath, before immediately regretting saying it and covering his mouth, hoping that no one heard. Unfortunately, these kids had exceptional hearing.

"Sheet?"

"I think he said 'shit'."

"What's shit?"

"I think it's another word for 'thanks.'

"Oh, then shit you for sharing your cookie with me."

"You're welcome! Shit to you too for letting me borrow your toys!"

Kuroko shot a scowl at the tanned man who acted sheepishly, as he informed the innocent children, "That S-word is a bad word. Only bad adults say that, so don't go copying Aomine-sensei."

"So Aomine-sensei is a bad adult?"

"Yes, he is! I can testify!"

Aomine recognized that chime like voice and turned around. Standing with her arms crossed, a blonde girl glared at him with puffed cheeks.

"Well look who it is," the man said dully, "It's Kise's brat."

"It's not _**Kise's brat**_," she spat, "The name's Taki, but _you _can call _me _**Taki-sama!"**

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, whatever you want your highness."

The basketball player watched in slight amusement as he watched the girl smile triumphantly, only to realize that she was actually being made fun of. In all honesty, he found it funny how everything she thought was so blatantly displayed on her face. He had to stifle a laugh as her face turned fifty shades of red.

"Aomine-sensei, stop teasing Taki-san," Kuroko scolded him, "Also, children, please sit in your squads and give us your full attention!"

Obediently, they followed his orders – much to Aomine's surprise – and split into two lines of five. Clearing his voice, the smaller man gestured towards the pro.

"As you've guessed, Aomine-sensei here will be teaching along with myself for the next month. We'll be playing basketball."

All of the children let out a cheer of happiness, and Aomine was slightly excited to teach these eager youths (although he'd never admit it).

"Since there are ten of you, we could easily begin a normal basketball game, but as many of you are beginners, each sensei will train one squad. Then, on the last day, we'll have the two squads play a game against one another."

He passed the tanned man a clipboard. "Squad A will be with Aomine-sensei and Squad B will be with myself."

This brought mixed reactions from the students, some excited and other nervous. Two kids however, were getting fired up.

"I hope you're ready to lose, Souta!"

Aomine saw the young blonde point at a boy with blue hair and red eyes.

"Nuh-uh," he snorted, "Both my dads were a part of the generation of miracles! I can wipe the floor with your whole squad by myself!"

"So what? You're not even blood-related. I have 100% of papa's blood in me. Papa calls me a genius!"

"Your papa's a liar! Your squad is going down, Taki!" The small boy flung his hands our towards the girl, wanting to shove her down.

Kise's little girl had guts though and dodged, "In your dreams, Souta!"

Souta snorted, embarrassed to have missed, "W-whatever! A-and, Dad is the one coaching my squad and you've got a ganguro to coach yours. Can he even play basketball?"

The blonde winced, unable to answer his question.

Kuroko bopped the boy on his head, "Souta-kun, don't be rude."

"What'd you hit me for, dad?"

Aomine raised his eyebrow, "Your kid?"

Kuroko nodded, "Yes. He is Akashi-kun and my adopted son, Akashi Souta-kun."

"For a kid who wasn't conceived by you guys, he looks freakishly like the two of you." From somewhere in his hazy memory, he recalled getting an email about this.

"Anyways," the other man changed the subject, "Aomine-sensei is an amazing basketball player. He's come back from America, where he plays in the big leagues."

Some kids oohed, Taki and Souta however, remained unimpressed.

"Hmph," the blonde girl squinted her eyes, "That's nothing. Bakagami played there too."

"That's right! Even Bakagami who needed dad's help just to beat Taki's loser papa was able to make it in America."

"What'd you call papa, stupid Souta?"

Both children glared at each other and Aomine could feel the tense crackle that he recognized as the atmosphere of true rivals. Unable to contain the mirth that the squabbling kids provided him, he let out a laugh. Thinking of the large, red-headed lug being looked down upon by these three-foot tall, sassy little children was too funny.

"What're you laughing about, Ahomine?"

"Who you calling Ahomine, you midget?" he fit in between chuckles. Then, he gave her his signature smirk which frightened many opponents. However, Taki wasn't afraid. Instead, she folded her arms and stood her ground defiantly. She had totally changed from the sobbing infant he met a week ago. No, rather, this was who she truly was. She probably had confidence that she had the back up of her posse and Kuroko, and felt a need to be strong. She reminded him of his childhood self.

"Well," he said, "let's see if you've got the skills to back up your talk. 100 laps around the gym, oh – not all of you guys. Just her brat highness, Taki_-sama_."

Taki gave him a look of disgust and stuck out her tongue. Aomine stuck out his in response.

Kuroko rolled his eyes at the pro's childish behaviour.

* * *

Half an hour and a lifetime's worth of immature bickering later, the ten kids were sweaty and all warmed up. The two men had split up the gym with a divider that had slowly come down from the ceiling. On Aomine's side, he sized up his squad. Surprisingly, he only realized now that Taki was the only girl out of the five players. Rubbing his temples, he also recalled that Kuroko's team had two. _Huh, _he thought, _three to seven. I thought that these days they tried to equalize the classrooms gender wise._

Watching his trainees though, he found out quickly that gender really didn't matter much at age five, as he observed how Taki acted as queen. She wasn't exactly bossy, but commanded authority. _A natural leader._

It also helped that she was good at basketball for age, and they all knew it.

He watched silently as the children began practicing dribbling. Even with the smaller balls, the four inexperienced students found it difficult to bounce the ball with a single hand. With practice, they learned quickly – absorbing Aomine's tips and teachings like fresh sponges. Some time later, they could bounce the mini balls steadily and even walk around a little before losing control. Oddly, the pro found this extremely impressive. Perhaps he was getting ahead of himself, but he asked them to switch hands. All four balls slipped out and short legs chased after them. Back to square one.

Then, there was Taki.

With powerful and dexterous movements for a child of her size, the young blonde dribbled her ball confidently. First with her right, then switching to her left. Around her leg it'd go, before traveling around her other. Behind her, to the side – she was able to skilfully manoeuvre the bouncing object. _She's a genius, just like her father,_ Aomine thought, ignoring the stab in the heart he felt at the thought of him.

Taki noticed that the pro had been watching her and appraising her positively. She looked up and gave him a smug grin before turning around and dribbling towards the tiny hoop. With a grand leap, she dunked the ball and hung onto the rim before landing gracefully on both feet. Her team mates cheered in awe, and the girl faced Aomine again. With a mock bow, she boasted, "This is elementary stuff!"

In response, the tanned man tossed the ball he held with one hand and sank it in the hoop, startling Taki and winning the respect of his temporary students (except the lone girl).

"Hmph," he shrugged his broad shoulders, "You're right, that is easy. You could even train a monkey to do that. Can you do that, though?"

Face blushing from embarrassment, she pouted and looked away from him. "Get back to practicing, you brats." His words were sharp, but his smile was genuinely happy.

The rest of the time flew by quickly. The session was split in two, one hour segments with frequent breaks, but with the reluctant help of Taki, the remaining four learned the basics quickly. They still had sloppy movements and made many mistakes, but they were worlds better than when they started. Before they knew it, it was time for the children to get picked up by their parents.

"See you, Aomine-sensei!"

"Thanks for teaching us basketball!"

Smirking, he shouted back, "Whatever. Just don't complain later on, it's only going to get tougher."

Innocently, the kids giggled off his warning and ran out of the seemingly larger gymnasium. Now, almost completely empty, the tanned pro felt that he had shrunk in the time he spent here. Exhaling, he cracked his neck and stretched his arms. To his pleasant surprise, this didn't suck so much. With the exception of the occasional pain he felt when he looked at Taki, it was a good distraction from his heart-break. Speaking of that brat...

Unlike all of the others, she stayed in the gym, practicing by herself. Aomine spoke out, "Don't you have to go back to your dad too?" His voice cracked as he said _dad_. He still wasn't used to seeing Kise as a father in his head.

The young girl didn't look at him, and continued practicing, "Papa works until the sun sets."

Aomine checked the clock, safely protected behind a metal cage on the wall. It read: 5:00. The weather channel had predicted that it would set near seven.

Aomine scratched his head. Kuroko had already gone with the other kids to see them off. As much of a trouble it would be, he couldn't just leave.

He snuck up behind the blonde and stole the ball from her.

"Hey! Give that back, Ahomine."

"Hey, it's Aomine-sensei. Show some respect. Who'd you get that rude mouth from?" Actually, he didn't want an answer to that. To his relief, she only scowled.

"Respect is _earned, _not given."

"Think you're such a hot-shot, don't you?"

"They call me a genius," she leered.

He rolled his eyes. "Let me teach you a lesson about the real world, brat."

"Like I told you, it's Taki-sama to you."

"Like I told you, it's Aomine-sensei."

Aomine didn't care how immature he looked. He wasn't losing to a kid.

"Fine," she huffed, "Let's settle this with basketball!"

It must have been a ridiculous sight to anyone who passed by. A fully grown man, over six feet tall, playing so seriously against a five-year old girl who was practically half his height. The pro was crushing her, all while teasing the poor sap. Nevertheless, Taki didn't cry. She didn't even get angry and quit – not even as Aomine sank shot after shot while blocking all of hers.

Ten minutes later, the pro obviously had won. He lazily dribbled the ball while gloating, "Where'd all that big talk about your skills go?"

Panting, the girl shot him a displeased look... before pouncing at the ball: an action so unexpected that Aomine couldn't even stop her. Unbalanced but determined, she ran as quickly as her short legs could carry her.

"The game's not over until I say so!"

Chasing after her, he replied to her declaration, "Like I'd let you, idiot!"

He caught up to her in a second but she kept running and then jumped – right pass the hoop.

"You planning on jumping to Canada, stu – "

Elegantly, her next moves shut him up. With a proud smile, she gently tossed the ball above her head, and it soared behind her... and into the basketball hoop.

"Nope! I'm planning on jumping to Winners-ville!" she smiled, shooting him a V-sign.

"Where'd you learn that from?" he asked.

"Papa taught me it," she said, proudly.

"Geez, you're a ridiculous child," secretly thinking that Kise had learned that from _him._

Taki giggled in response, but Aomine picked up the ball and tossed it behind him – scoring in the opposite hoop. "Still not good enough though. 2 to 1, I'm winning still."

Her smile disappeared and she frowned, "Again! Play me again, one more time!"

"Don't expect me to fall for anymore of your tricks," he teased.

She gave him a thumbs down.

* * *

"One more time!"

Her golden hair was sticking to her face but she didn't care. Her legs had given up, but she didn't care. Aomine's heart ached as he remembered how Kise used to chase after him like this... and found it strange that still, he couldn't hate his ex's daughter. He knew it from the moment he found out and had pondered it for the week he had lived as a recluse. Her charm was irresistible to him, he found her endearing.

"You're done, you know that."

"J-just give me a second. Don't look down on me! I-I'm tougher than this, you'll see!"

"You should know your body's limits."

"Be quiet, Ahomine! Stop thinking you're so hot just 'cause you're bigger than me!"

He laughed and crouched down.

"Get on."

"I don't need your help."

"I'll leave you here alone then." He stood up and began walking away. Behind, he heard the sounds of crawling.

"Don't... don't go...!"

The blonde child was staring at him with her a scared look in dark eyes and he went back to piggyback her.

"You should have just accepted my help to begin with."

Her childish innocence was refreshing.

The warmth of her body felt strangely comforting and he couldn't help but think that if she were his daughter, he'd spoil her silly.

_But that's impossible._

Shut up.

The two of them walked out of the gym, and Aomine went to find his friend. Wandering around, he soon got lost with all of the corridors. Groaning, he found himself in a room full of tables and vending machines.

"Are you hungry?" Taki's voice asked, tiredly. He could feel it vibrate against his back.

"Not really," he said, "Are you?"

The girl paused for a second, and then the tanned man felt her stomach growl.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"No..." she whispered, "Taki promised papa she'd eat with him."

Aomine stiffened but didn't say anything more about it. Alternatively, he offered to buy her a drink since she must have been thirsty. The girl had drunk her hello kitty water bottle dry.

Too parched to refuse, she answered with "strawberry milk" when asked what she wanted. Rummaging through his shorts, he found enough change to buy her choice of drink and another bottle of water for himself. Taking the two beverages with one of his large hands, he brought them over to an empty table before gently letting the girl off. She sat down next to him, and fidgeted.

"You can take it, you know," he passed the milk box to her.

Nervously, she accepted it with both hands and thanked him shyly.

"So you have manners after all," he joked, and smiled when her chubby cheeks reddened.

Both of them sat in silence, and Aomine studied the young child thoroughly for the first time.

There was no doubt that she was Kise's child. Everything about her outer appearance was nearly an identical, female reproduction of the model's own features. The only noticeable difference between the father and daughter pair were the eyes; Kise had amber eyes whilst Taki had dark blue ones. He hated himself, but he thought that they looked so similar to his own azure irises. Then he thought, that if only Kise or himself had been a girl. Maybe... Taki could have been his baby too.

"I wonder who's your mother."

"Mama is papa."

"Hm?"

"Taki's mama is papa." Aomine realized too lately that he had actually said his thought out loud, and that she was plainly answering his inquiry.

"You don't know who your mother is?"

She looked at him impatiently, "Taki said, mama is papa!"

"Then who's your papa?"

The girl shot him a look that said she pitied him for being so unbelievably stupid, "Papa is papa! You seemed to know papa before Papa even let you be one of the -cchis."

_So her mom really did abandon her, _he thought. Although Kise leaving him still bothered him, he felt a bit of sympathy for her.

"Ah, Aomine-kun, Taki-san."

"Woah!"

Aomine still wasn't used to his friend popping out of nowhere all the time, "Where'd you come from, Tetsu?"

"I've been standing here for a while now," he said, before looking at the child, "Taki-san, Kise-kun is here to pick you up."

"Papa?" Her eyes glowed with affection upon hearing her father's name. Jumping down from her set, she ran with her milk box out the door. The two men then heard the squeak of sneakers stopping abruptly and watched as the little blonde ran back towards the tanned pro.

She looked up at him with warm eyes and cleared her voice, "By the way, I let you win today. I felt bad to beat you on your first day around here so I went easy. Don't expect to win the next time we face off!"

He snorted.

Satisfied, she turned around to leave again, this time stopping at the door to say, "But you still did pretty well. Sp, I've upgraded you to Ahomine-_sensei, _andI guess I'll let you call me Taki without the –sama. Be grateful!" and then she ran down the corridor to the front desk where Kise was probably waiting.

"Tsk," Aomine frowned, "She's so rude and conceited. I wonder who she got that from?"

Kuroko observed his best friend with tender eyes and muttered, "That'd be you."

"Did you say something, Tetsu?"

"Ah... no, forget it."

"Whatever."

The smaller boy saw the change in the tanned man, and realized that this must have been Akashi's plan. To let Aomine start to love Taki...

Exhausted from his long days of worrying, he sat down.

"The love between a parent and child is so amazing."

"Huh?" Aomine gave him a confused look.

"Nothing."

_Just that... Aomine-kun... already, you have the expression of a father. Taki's father._

Behind his light blue eyes, Kuroko wondered what kind of face his friend would make when he found out that Taki was indeed, the daughter of not only Kise, but the basketball pro's as well.

* * *

A/N: Yay! Chapter 3 is here! Oh my god it's so long . (for me that is lol) Honestly, I had the most fun writing this chapter. I adore Taki and Aomine together. I always think of how it'd be if she was already a teenager. Definitely, she'd be much sassier. Haha. Well, that was my attempt at some fluff /. Hope you guys found it cute too.

Er, Souta was kind of on the spot in creation. Let's just say he's going to be a useful side character in the future. And yes... AkaKuro will be a side fluff coule who helps move the story along haha. I have no confidence in writing AkaKuro well though... so please don't throw tomatoes at me when I try!

Just a side note, having all male parents make it a bit confusing when kids refer to them. So, I gave each one of them a variant. Basically, Akashi = Father, Kuroko = Dad, and Kise = Papa ;D


	4. Chapter 4: Monster and Miracle

_It's a nightmare._

_It's a miracle._

_He's a monster._

_That was what the doctors, the nurses and his parents had said at Kise's birth. Obviously, Kise didn't recall any of this... he was only just born. Still, he knew of what happened as if it were etched into his memory. _

_"How could this be?" his mother had been crying, her shoulders shaking and handkerchief soaked in her tears._

_"Are you sure it isn't some mistake?" _

_Kise's father wrapped a strong arm around his wife and faced the doctor with shocked but steady eyes._

_The doctor shook his head, confirming their fears. "The x-rays we've taken proven that your daughter...or son, whichever you prefer has developed an extremely rare condition."_

_Both parents grew solemn at the news. How was this possible? For nine months, they had been expecting another new beautiful girl to their family... and now..._

_"Mr. and Mrs. Kise," the doctor cleared his throat, "I know that I am in no position to say anything but... will the two of you listen to my professional judgement?"_

_"Please, doctor," Kise's father had urged. This was too much for him and his beloved to handle on their own._

_Lowering his mask, the doctor flipped through pages on his clipboard, "I believe that the two of you should raise this child as a boy. I understand that you've been expecting a daughter, but it's a fact that she's developed physically as a man."_

_"Also," he flipped to another page, including an x-ray and detailed notes, "the only female attributes the child has is the uterus. Tests have not yet determined if it'll work, or if he'll have the necessary hormones to carry. Basically, what I'm saying is that the chances are that he – I mean the child, will be able to live life as a normal boy."_

_"My baby," the blonde woman croaked, "Let me see my baby, first, please."_

_He hesitated, but then silently the blue-cloaked doctor walked over to the incubator room and tenderly scooped up the sleeping infant. He marveled at the small creature, so small, innocent... defenceless. Without his parents' love, how could he ever hope to survive in this cruel world?_

_Back in the room, into the woman's thin arms he lowered the baby with a sad gentleness. _

_He watched as the new mother raised a long, thin finger to stroke the infant's cheeks. As a practitioner in this business for several years, he was able to see the uncertainty in her heart battle against her unconditional maternal love for the newborn._

_"What long eyelashes," she cooed, "If he was born a girl, she'd be so beautiful."_

_The blonde father fidgeted uncomfortably. _

_"Here," his wife said, handing the large man the warm baby she held._

_Nervously, he accepted. To his surprise, the eyelashes of the child fluttered, and soon he found large amber eyes, like his own, stare at him._

_"He looks like he'd grow up beautiful, even as a man," he said._

_The child let out a laugh._

_"He seems to agree," the blonde woman sighed when her husband passed their baby back into her arms. _

_"How do you feel," she whispered to the smiling infant pensively, "How would you feel if we raised you as a boy, Ryouta?"_

_A small fist lightly touched the mother's cheek, before opening into a palm and tapping it._

_"I guess that's decided then..." she murmured, tears welling in her own tired eyes once again._

_The doctor watched as the family embraced closely and felt his own tears form, "I'm sure he'll grow up as a normal boy. I'll pray for your happiness."_

* * *

_Kise Ryouta did indeed, grow up as a normal boy. Girly, but a boy nonetheless. He liked females, he played sports well, he was handsome and well built. No one would have expected his birth to be as dramatic as it was. No one would have needed to know... not even the boy himself. That is, not until Kise met Aomine. For an unknown reason, the blonde boy grew unexplainably attracted to the blue haired youth. Somehow, his feelings were also returned and they fell so deeply in love that no one could separate them, no matter what tactics they used. This fact – his parents would be lying if they had said they didn't worry about it. The doctor had dismissed their fear though, informing them that Kise's annual body check had shown no changes in his hormones and that they could pass their son off as a gay, bisexual or pansexual – whatever they chose. So worry they did not, nor did they tell their son of his rare condition. They were happy as long as he was, and didn't want to ruin that._

_Except, it seemed that the body check was just a little too outdated. _

_On that early summer's day of his sixteenth year, Kise was rushed to the hospital, unbeknownst by most people. He had been vomiting and had been feeling terribly nauseous; his body temperature had risen suddenly; he suffered through headaches, unusual fatigue, light headedness and stomach pain. After several tests and questions, the doctor had his diagnose._

_The impossible had happened._

_Kise Ryouta was pregnant._

_It was a nightmare._

_It was a miracle._

_He was a monster._

_But she was a miracle and for some reason, he couldn't abort her._

_So he kept her, pondering what he should do in the mean time. Being so muscular, the bump did not show on him as it may have on women. Aomine noticed some changes, but never pushed him. This made the model feel guilty for not immediately telling him. He scolded himself each night, promising to do so the next day only to use the excuse that it wasn't the right time. That's right, he feared rejection. He didn't know how his boyfriend would react and he didn't want to be hated by the sole person he loved the most. He was a freak of nature, not quite male and not quite female. Such a person, the other man would hate his guts and never want anything to do with him ever gain... Well... that's the reason he gave to his family and friends, as well as to himself on the days that his hormones made too unbearable anyways. Deep down inside, Kise knew that he had another reason, although he didn't consciously admit it until another summer's day._

_For a while already, they had known that Aomine had been scouted to go to America. Kise also promised to go with him, because he couldn't refuse without telling his lover about his pregnancy. Obviously, being pregnant meant that he wouldn't be able to go because he'd have to give birth overseas then, without the support of his close ones. So, on that bitter afternoon, he broke up with the future pro. _

_Why? _

_He told his parents that it was because he was too much of a coward to tell the man. _

_Really?_

_He told his friends to keep it a secret because he thought Aomine would want him to get an abortion._

_But his heart told him, that although all of these fears were justified, he who had loved the tanned man knew the truth. The blue haired man would have been angry yes, and yes he'd be shocked into silence, of course. He would not leave Kise alone, though. No, after being left alone to think things through, he would get off that plane and refuse the American team. Some would have called the blonde overconfident, but you get to know things when you gain a connection as deep as his was to Aomine's. _

_And this, was the real reason Kise left him... because more than being hated, more than anything, Kise didn't want to be the reason that Aomine gave up on his dreams._

* * *

_Ten months later on that spring morning, a miracle was born._

_He named her Taki. _

_Ta from Ryouta, because she had his blonde hair._

_Ki from Daiki, because she had his blue eyes._

_Kise (secretly Aomine) Taki, became the first child to have been conceived by two men. Kise Ryouta, her papa and birth mother all in one, and Aomine Daiki, the father who never knew._

* * *

The blonde man pushed the red button on the grey remote and heard the television close with a chime. With one hand, he brushed his bangs back and looked down. Peacefully, he found his little girl sleeping soundly, back against his muscular chest, on his lap between his long, crossed legs. Wrapping his arms around her, he lifted the tired child off him and carried her out of the living room. The two of them made their way up the stairs – Kise being careful not to wake her. When they reached the second door from the end of the hall, he shifted Taki's weight to his left arm and turned the knob on the door. Inside, was a room painted light blue. On the walls were painted objects – clouds, birds, rainbows, airplanes – the theme was the sky. Smiling, he let the girl down on her bed, resting her head on the soft pillow much too large for her head and tucked her in beneath her comforter. Kise then leaned down to kiss his angel on the forehead and then glanced at the window. The blinds were closed, but what caught his eyes was the yellow paint the surrounded the white framed glass. Reminiscing, he remembered that he was trying to make it the sun. Taki had adored the idea when she turned old enough to talk. She said that when it was morning, it really felt like her window was the sun, giving her light.

Yes, this room was their little project. Like father, like daughter, the two of them loved the sky and the promise of freedom it gave. For Kise, this room was the remnant of his dream of becoming a pilot. Still, he yearned to fly in the wide blue, but now it was impossible. He had a child to care for; it wasn't like he could bring her along on every flight. Stroking her long hair, he thought that she was worth it though. He didn't hate his modelling job, and it paid well. Moreover, no amount of flying could compare to each moment of watching Taki grow. He actually wished he didn't have to work so he could spend all of his time with her. Each second she grew a little older, a little wiser.

The blonde chuckled to himself as he thought about how lonely he'd be when she would begin acting independently. As excited as he was to see her one day develop into the fine young woman he knew she'd become, in his heart he knew he'd miss these days of cuddling and watching her sleep.

Kise glanced at the glowing green numbers that came from Taki's digital clock. Already, it was midnight. He'd need to sleep now if he was to be able to wake up and make breakfast for the two of them tomorrow. The day care centre offered breakfast, but the dad preferred for the two of them to enjoy their morning meal together.

_"Guess who I met today during gym time, papa!"_

_"The bad man – oh wait, I meant Ahomine-sensei!"_

_"Ahh, he's actually not that bad of a guy, you know, papa. Plus, he's all right at basketball," she laughed, "Not as good as me though!"_

While walking to his room, his mind drifted to dinner's conversation. Without his knowledge, Akashi and Kuroko had come up with some sort of plan. He wasn't exactly sure what sort of goal they had, and Akashi had blown him off when he called earlier saying "Tetsuya and I are... a little busy right now. Call again in the morning, Ryouta," and then he heard Kuroko ask who it was – who was then quickly shut up with what Kise perceived as a kiss – before the receiver's disconnect tone cut the line.

Checking the time, it was technically 'tomorrow' but Kise didn't feel like calling the couple up. He'd only end up annoying the pair, which actually sounded kind of tempting right now. Frustrated, he curled up on his bed and sighed. He was doing a lot of that recently too.

Frankly, the blonde wasn't completely oblivious to what they were planning. Clearly, they had known that Taki spends much of her time in the care of the centre, because he needed to work. So by hiring Aomine, it could only mean that they were trying to get him close to his daughter, as well as vice versa. Kise reluctantly praised them as it seemed to be working. Taki was stubborn like her tanned father, but Kise knew that she had grown attached to him. It wasn't wrong... Aomine deserved the time and love of his little girl, even if he didn't know her true identity, but Kise didn't like it.

Five years should have made him a new man, yet still he loved with the same intensity as he did all those years ago. It took all of his will power not to break down at their reunion. Now that he's seen the happiness Taki felt with her other father, he wished with all his heart that he could go right now and run into the larger man's arms to confess everything, burdening him and forcing the pro to take him back.

This would interfere with the pro's basketball career, he knew that, but he still wanted to do it.

And he hated himself for that.

* * *

Aomine found it strange as to how invested he was in this summer job of his. Only for the remainder of the month did he have to work with these brats, yet he slaved even after his coaching hours in order to come up with different ways to help them improve themselves. For some reason, the more time he spent with them, the greater the urge to hone them into amazing players grew. Sure, they weren't exactly genius material like his middle school team was, but he understood that the generation of miracles were one in ten million. These kids that he was working with now – they were the future, and could go far with hard work.

The one-on-one matches afterwards with his star pupil also made things more exciting. Taki and he formed a sort of routine. After gym was over, they'd tidy up the room (Akashi scolded him for not cleaning up on his first day) before walking over to the cafeteria to buy their drinks in advance. Then, they'd return to the gym and play one-on-one games until the blonde's body gave up or Kise showed up.

For the first couple days, they played with the mini-sized equipment. One day though, before class started, Taki snuck in and saw him doing layups with the regular hoop and ball. Since then, she'd refuse to play with him unless they used the "big kid stuff."

The large, orange ball looked awkward in her tiny hands but she could still perform fairly well, impressing the experienced pro. He could tell that Kise had played with her a lot, inheriting the blonde's passion. Although still, shooting posed a problem. So, he'd negotiate with her (in Aomine's world, that meant ruthlessly commanding the child with no room for 'buts' or complaints, along with a good old threat of him never playing with her again). Some days, they'd practice everything but shooting using the regular sized ball. On the others, they'd have scoring practices with the fun-sized equipment. To their delight, this schedule worked out well for the aspiring player, who got better at a tremendous pace.

Stretching his arms, Aomine noticed that he had worked through the night. Thankfully, tomorrow (actually today) was Saturday. He flopped onto his soft hotel bed and fell to sleep, not planning to wake up until evening.

* * *

A loud ringing cut through his sleep, and Aomine struggled to open his groggy eyes. Swearing, he reached to his bed side table and checked to see the caller's ID. It read, Akashi.

"What do you want, Akashi?" he groaned.

"Daiki!" A cheerful voice startled the pro, "What've you been doing? You sound dead."

"Sleeping," he yawned, "The hell 'ave you been doing? You sound drunk."

"Good morning, sunshine!"

Yup. Definitely drunk.

"What do you want?" Aomine wanted nothing to do with a drunk Akashi. When his former captain was intoxicated, he was the most cheery bastard ever, which scared him even more than the sadistic, normal one.

"Akashi-kun," Kuroko's voice spoke in the background, "Let me talk to him."

"You're making me jealous, Tetsuya," the red head slurred, "Give me a kiss first or I'll kill you."

Aomine heard static as the phone on the other side was shuffled around, "Ah, sorry about this Aomine-kun, but we need to ask you for a favour."

"Spit it out already, Tetsu."

"Could you pick us up? We're too drunk to drive, and we promised Kise-kun we'd babysit Taki-chan tonight, who is at our home with a nanny right now."

"What? Why do I have to be your chauffer? And if a nanny is babysitting, how the hell does that count as you two helping out in any way?"

"Are you going to not do as Akashi-kun asks? I won't pressure you, but I'll have to tell him this when he's sober..."

"One day, I'm going to kill the two of you, I swear!"

"I love you too, Aomine-kun."

He could hear Akashi yell "Tetsuya, are you cheating on me? Tell me who he is, I'll kill him," and the sound of scissors in the background.

Hanging up abruptly, Aomine kicked off his sheets and put on his t-shirt. Before hanging up, Kuroko had told him that their car was parked at the center and Momoi would have the keys. Annoyed, he obediently left his room, on his way to the subway on route to his summer work place.

* * *

"That worked rather well, Akashi-kun," the blue haired boy said, cheek on his hand.

Akashi smirked, "Of course it did. My acting was first rate."

Amused, the red head swished the contents of his glass and took a small sip. It was only his second drink that night.

"I wonder how he'll react when he arrives," Kuroko mused.

"Mm, shocked probably," he laughed, "What a predicament he will be in, wanting to run away but being unable to."

Next to the two men, there was a pile of shot glasses, and a sleeping man surrounded by them. Akashi plays with a strand of the man's blonde hair and murmurs, "I wish you the best of luck, Ryouta. We pray for your happiness."

Right after, the two men got up and left the bar.

Ten minutes later, a tanned man came in, looking for them with the help of a waiter who directed him to their table... only to find the sleeping blonde.

* * *

A/N: So here's Kise's (kind of) back story! To begin with, I'd like to say I apologize for my strange and unbelievable write up about Kise's body. I'm fully aware that it's not possible.. but the prompt said for a pregnant Kise so... there we go xD. I tried my best to make it seem like a believable tale for a fic. I also have no medical knowledge besides for emergency first aid so... please don't question the strangeness of all this too much xD

Also, there's Kise's reason for breaking up with Aomine! Was that at least a realistic/relatable one? I tried ! T^T. Sure, he might not have made the best decision, but you can see that he regrets it too. Afterwards, it ends with AkaKuro forcing the two to spend a little time together too. Hmm, what will happen now? I'm as curious as you guys xD.

Lastly, I'M SO SORRY TO ALL AKASHI FANS LOL. I can't write Akashi-sama.. I'm not worthy of Akashi-sama... But.. but... a drunk Akashi acting all lovey is cute isn't he? I DON'T REGRET IMAGINING IT.

See you guys next chapter~


	5. Chapter 5: Last Kiss

"Are you fucking with me?"

Aomine was furious.

"Please mind your language, sir," the waitress pushed up her metal rimmed glasses and stated matter-of-factly, "This is the table where Akashi-san and Kuroko-san sat."

"Akashi has red hair like his name, and Tetsu has blue hair. There were two of them. This –" the tanned man pointed at the table on which a pile of shot glasses sat, "is a single, blonde man."

He gritted his teeth trying hard not to explode from all of his pent-up emotions. Inside of him, his mind was taking him on a memory roller coaster. There, as defenceless as a puppy, Kise was sleeping on the small, round table.

"Perhaps you should call the two gentlemen and clear things up with them."

Seeing as to how shouting at the waitress was only going to get him kicked out, Aomine pulled out his phone and dialled Kuroko's number. It sent him straight to voice mail, to which he recited enough words from his adult's-only vocabulary to make a sailor embarrassed. After, as the woman walked away from him, giving the tanned man a dirty look, he called Akashi's cell.

Voice-mail picked up this time too.

_"You've reached Akashi Seijurou. I'm busy and can't pick up the phone at the moment. Hang up at the beep, and don't call again. If I decide that you're worthy enough to receive a response from me, I'll call back... eventually. Don't count on it._

_"..."_

_"If this is Daiki, I'm sure you've discovered our little present. Search Ryouta's body and you'll find a note from Tetsuya. The two of you have fun now."_

_"Beep."_

_"One day, I'm going to kill the two of you, I swear!"_

_Seems like that day will be coming sooner than I planned, _the blue haired man snarled in his mind.

For a moment, he considered just leaving. But knowing the couple, they definitely were planning this from the beginning. If he didn't play his part, who knew what that psycho red-head would do next.

He must have looked like a crazy man but he didn't care – the man smashed his hard head against the wall.

_I'll be fine, _he thought,_ it can't be that hard. _

Slamming his phone shut, he sized up sleeping beauty. Even in the dim light, the blonde's handsome face could still make Aomine's heart beep faster than normal. He could feel his chest tightening and he had to remind himself to breathe. Biting his lip, he took small steps forward until he was only a mere thirty centimetres away from touching the other man.

"K-Kise," Aomine swore to himself, annoyed by the weakness in his own voice.

"Oi, Kise, wake up," he growled, after clearing his throat.

The model showed no signs of hearing him.

"Kise! Wake up!" he shouted this time and hit the table, shivering as he felt Kise's breath graze his hand.

"Unnn," the blonde moaned, obviously unhappy about being made to awaken from his deep sleep. To the basketball pro's surprise, a hand almost as large as his grabbed onto his wrist. Where those pale fingers grasped his tanned skin, he felt electricity flow into him.

"Let me sleep a little longer," Kise murmured in his bedroom voice.

Aomine squeezed his lips together, shutting them tight to avoid making any sounds that he would regret letting out later. His body felt so hot at that moment, that he felt it difficult to think straight.

"Kise," he exhaled, struggling to speak, "Get up. You're drunk, we need to get you home."

"No..." There is was again: _that voice._

He tried to ignore the sensation he felt in his pants.

"If you're not going to come willingly, I'll drag you," he grunted.

No response.

Not knowing what he should do, Aomine put both his arms around the other man's and heaved him up. The heat the contact caused almost made his heart jump right out of his chest, but he continued on with sheer willpower. After pulling the tall man on his feet, he draped one of the blonde's long arms around his neck and proceeded to walk him out when he saw a flicker of white in the man's pants pocket. Of all the places though, it had to be the back pocket. Completely aware of his fingers unintentionally touching Kise's bottom, he thought of bloomers and old hags in thongs and other utterly unsexy thoughts, trying to make it through the unbearable process. Somehow, he was able to pull the note out.

_Good evening, Aomine-kun. If you're reading this, you must have called Akashi-kun. That or stripped Kise-kun forcefully. We all know that you're an incorrigible pervert._

"Shut up, Tetsu," the blue head snarled to himself. It definitely was true that couples start to act alike. Kuroko's learned to be more sadistic in the five years since he had gone away.

_Whatever happened – I won't ask (but I'm betting on the second situation) – please escort Kise-kun home regardless. Tuck him into bed and wait for him to wake up. You can choose to leave after laying him on his bed, but then who will lock the door? You wouldn't want to leave him all alone, undefended, do you? _

Further down, the penmanship changed. An address, along with a short note were written down.

_You wouldn't dare refuse an order from me, would you Daiki? Be a good boy._

Aomine scrunched the paper and shoved it in his own shorts pocket.

Trying his best to block out Kise's warm breaths, he used his strength to lug the other man towards the stairs found just pass the exit. Physically, it was an easy task. For a man almost the same height and build as the pro himself, Kise was noticeably lighter. Aomine also noted that the other man was less muscular than he remembered. Mostly the man's abdomen area, which was firm but not as hard as his own.

Emotionally, he didn't know how he should be feeling. Somewhere, he felt the strong longing to embrace his past lover but that came hand-in-hand with the stabs of pain their sudden break up had caused him.

Then, he felt a light tap on his shoulder.

"K-Kise?" he muttered. His heart began pumping blood faster than it had ever done before, and he could himself get light-headed. Carrying a sleeping Kise was one thing, but if he woke up, his poor head would explode from the heat.

"No, it's the bill."

"Huh?" he turned his head around, taking in a deep breath – bad mistake, he inhaled a cloud of the model's familiar cologne – when he noticed that the blonde's face was only an inch away from his... so close, he could kiss those luscious lips.

"Ahem," a voice called out from behind the two, "I'm over here."

Aomine looked over Kise's head to find the scowling waitress from earlier, horrified to realize that it was she who tapped him on the shoulder.

"I hate to interrupt your little... _moment_," the haughty woman spouted, "but here is the bill for the drinks this man has had as well as repair costs for the dent you've made in our fine establishment with that rock of a head you have there."

She paused, then snickered distastefully, "I also see that your head isn't the only thing of yours that is... hard. Cover yourself, you're in public for god's sake."

Aomine's faced flushed and then grew so many shades of red that not even an artist could name them all. Clumsily fishing out his wallet, he shoved his credit card into the unamused woman. Seconds later, the waitress returned and Aomine rushed out of the bar. Whether he was red from embarrassment, rage at the posh fool, annoyed by the idiotic couple or turned on by the sleeping man – possible all of the above – he did not know.

Thankfully, he had found an empty parking space close by earlier when he arrived. Roughly, he dumped the model into the passenger seat before closing the door. Leaning against Kuroko's tiny car, he breathed deeply, grateful for the cool night wind. The briskness of the frosty air helped to calm his pumping heart and return him to a somewhat normal state of mind. Something cool tickled his cheeks, and Aomine realized that it was starting to drizzle. Climbing behind the wheel, he pulled out of the parking lot and drove down the familiar path back to Kise's family home.

* * *

_On the courts near Kise's home, the two high school students had played basketball. Like always, Aomine was winning and the blonde kept whining for another game. Neither of them had cared that Momoi had chastised them earlier that this wasn't a proper date – that this was something friends would do. Both boys loved basketball, and to them, there wasn't another better way to spend their time together than one-on-ones all day long._

_For much of the morning and afternoon, that's what they did, and they had fun. When evening came around though,, the sky grew dark and the oblivious players got soaked in the sudden storm. Almost instantaneously, the rain had fallen heavily as if someone in the heavens had just dumped a swimming pool onto them. Hair wet and soaked to their underwear – the two boys called it a day and ran in the cold shower back to the blonde's home. Laughing, they discussed how ridiculous this all was, being barely able to see through all this water. It was cold, and it was wet but at least they were together._

_They turned a corner and noticed a vehicle in the white-garaged driveway. Kise un-latched his rusting metal gate and walked in unfazed, whereas the blue haired boy stopped just before the entrance._

_"Your parents are home."_

_Kise frowned, "You can come in anyways."_

_"Nah," the tanned boy shook his head, "It's already time for dinner anyways."_

_The blonde pouted, "You eat dinner at five?"_

_"Fine, I lied," he laughed, "But I don't want to make your parents uncomfortable."_

_"They won't mind."_

_"Just go in, idiot."_

_Kise folded his arms and didn't budge. _

_"I'll leave first then," Aomine said, knowing that the boy wouldn't do as he said unless he forced him to. Sharply, he shifted his body so that his back now faced Kise. With slow steps, he began to walk off nonchalantly._

_"Wait, Aominecchi!"_

_Kise's hand grabbed him and the taller boy felt his body lose its balance and he fell against the cold metal thanks to the other boy's strong pull. He turned his head around and groaned. "Just go in already dumba– "_

_Kise had covered his lips with his own, stopping the blue haired boy mid-sentence. Deeply, he kissed him. The cold rain continued to fall, blurring their sights and adding relief to their passionate kiss. Aomine stood frozen as he felt Kise's tongue slip into his agape mouth. He felt the other boy's tongue search every crevice fervently, looking for his own. Regaining his ability to move his body, he wrapped his arms around Kise, bringing him closer to his drenched body and pressed their bodies securely together, only separated by the thin gate. Closing his eyes, he enjoyed the feeling of their two bodies melding into one being, radiating heat and passion. Without his sight, his other senses were heightened. The smell of grass and Kise's cologne, the warmth of his boyfriend's skin on his and... the rapid beating of the boy's heart that mirrored his own. It was unlike any other kiss they shared so far – it was intimate and deep. There wasn't a strong force of lust as when they made love, no, this interaction was on another plane. It was a kiss on the emotional level, filled with a longing of immense love. It left Aomine breathless. It made Kise feel fearless._

_Slowly, after what seemed like an eternity of bliss, Kise pulled away and Aomine felt an instant loneliness overwhelm him as he opened his eyes. _

_"At least now, Momoicchi can't say it wasn't a proper date," the blonde whispered, face blushing shyly, "We just kissed in the rain, didn't we? How romantic."_

_The tanned boy reached for the blonde and pulled him into a second embrace, before slapping the blushing boy's behind._

_"Yeah, yeah," he murmured, "Now go on inside before you get the both of us sick."_

_Kise pushed him away and puffed out his cheeks, "You always have to ruin the moment, don't you? Aominecchi, you're such a pervert!"_

_He chuckled, and bent over to kiss him on the forehead, "But, I'm your pervert."_

_Waving lazily, Aomine walked away, heading home. Sneakily, he glanced back once. Still at the gate, Kise stood beet red, covering his forehead and muttering to himself. _

_"It's not fair, Aominecchi," then crouching down, he added, "I love you."_

_Neither of them realized at the time, that that was their last kiss._

* * *

Aomine sat on Kise's bed, back against the wall and played with locks of his ex's golden hair as he stared out the window. Beads of water slid down, as if they're racing, and he remembered how Kise would bother him about that.

_"Hey, hey, Aominecchi! Which raindrop do you think will win?"_

He'd call the model a fool, but would bet on one of them anyways. He never won.

"You told me you loved me," the pro murmured, solemnly, "Was that a lie?"

The blonde slept peacefully, unaware of his questions.

"Who was she?" he asked, "Did she have long, silky hair and big boobs?"

"Did she have dark blue eyes? Those are the only things in your daughter that I don't see in you," he paused, "Besides her personality... Was she headstrong, stubborn and rude too? I don't think Taki got those traits from you."

Only Kise's breaths answered.

"Did you love her?"

"..."

"Did her love for you even equal to a fraction of how much I loved... still love you?"

Silence.

He dropped his voice into a whisper, "Was she worth leaving me for?"

"..."

The rain started to come down harder, and a flash of lightning accompanied the boom of thunder. Other than that, the house was silent save for the creaks of the tree branches in the front and backyard. The gate where they kissed also screeched, but Kise remained unresponsive.

What was he expecting from a guy who was in lala-land, anyways? Releasing the blonde hair he had been fiddling with, Aomine lowered his face to hover just above the model's.

"I get no answers when you're awake, I get nada when you're asleep. What do I have to do to get a glimpse of your mind, Kise?"

Smiling sadly, he brought his face all the way down and pecked the other man tenderly on the forehead.

"That used to get you to do whatever I wanted."

Gently, the man got off the bed and fixed the blankets. Forlornly, he walked out of the room, shutting the door softly as he left.

"Aominecchi," Kise whimpered in his sleep, "I've only ever loved you."

By then it was too late. Aomine had already gone too far to hear his words.

* * *

A/N: Progress? Oh why couldn't these two just have sat down and talked!? Oh yeah, that's because we wouldn't have much of a story then, ne? xD So close yet so far away, eh? Ahh, I'm so mean to Aomine, embarrassing him like that... but honestly, he's one of my favourite characters! Chapter 3 and 4 were pretty long though, so a short-ish chapter was refreshing to write~ I had a bit of trouble writing the beginning half of this chapter though. Couldn't get into the "mood". But for the second half, I really got into it. I can also thank listening to Taylor Swift's "Last Kiss." xD


	6. Chapter 6: I'm Sorry

Standing nervously, Aomine's hand struggled to turn the knob. He had left Kise alone, but now he didn't know where to go. To the living room to watch television? No, that'd be weird. To the kitchen? And what, make the model a sandwich? No thanks. Tired, he had decided to explore the little girl's bedroom, since it was the most foreign to him. Everything else in the house had remained the same, much to his discomfort.

After a couple of fails, he clicked his tongue and rubbed the sweat off of his palms onto his shorts. He never felt this nervous, not even when he entered the rooms of his girlfriends from before he met Kise. Determined, he pushed open the door with force (but quietly, lest he wake up the blonde) and flicked on the light.

The room before him was... well... shocking to say the least.

What was the most eye-catching of everything were the walls. They looked straight out of a home decor magazine as they were so professionally painted, despite the pro knowing that the model would have never let anyone but himself paint the room. Kise was always one who thought that it meant more if you did it with your own hands.

Aomine could make out that it was a scene of the sky, with blue skies and fluffy, white clouds. Other things decorated the wall, but what made him stop and stare was a drawing of an airplane, with a man and little girl sitting happily in the pilot seats. The two people had yellow hair, so he assumed that it was Kise and Taki, which made sense with Kise's dream to be a pilot. Above it, was a messier, sloppy, but similar drawing on an eight and a half by eleven piece of paper. "Taki" had been written on the bottom right corner in red crayon.

Aside from the paint, there were many more things that surprised him. Clothes, toys, paper and what not were all scattered around the room. The sheets on the bed – which he thought, by the way, was much too big for a puny five-year old – were strewn across it, unmade. Looking at the contents, Aomine couldn't really picture what kind of girl Taki really was. Everything about her room was contradictory and it was hard to really brand her with any stereotype.

Taking a step forward, he stepped on something squishy and heard a pop, accompanied with the sound of something deflating. It was a child size basketball.

Near the door, where he was, there was a mini basketball hoop and a basket full of mini balls. Most of them were basketballs, but near the bottom were balls for soccer, foot ball, tennis, baseball, water polo, volley ball – even some birdies for badminton. Next to it, he also found numerous swimsuits and goggles.

_Definitely the athletic type, _he thought.

Except, in the corner next to what he dubbed "The Sports Area," stood a small vanity mirror packed with girly trinkets. Kise really spoiled her, as he found countless necklaces, bracelets, rings and even earrings. Aomine didn't recall her having piercings yet though, and then found that many of them were clip-ons. She also had an array of cute little hair accessories. He smiled, imagining the model struggling to do her hair so that she'd be the '"cutest little princess ever!"

_A girly-girl? _and he remembered the sports equipment, _A girly athlete... is that even a clique? _

Next to that, was a bookshelf stacked with books.

_Okay, a girly, athletic nerd. The question should be, what doesn't she like?_

Her clothes in the closet on the opposite side of the large room mirrored the different objects he had seen. This child had everything from baggy t-shirts and shorts for sports, to stylish clothes that must be brand-name and "in right now" to frilly dresses, most likely courtesy of her father's modelling career.

Closing the closet door, he sat down at the desk, which was the neatest part of the room. Pondering about his findings, he saw that the more he explored, the more he came to see that this was yet another trait the girl had inherited from her amber-eyed father. Both of them had many interests, and were open to almost anything. The many sides of them was what made them – _them. _They had an infinite amount of love and curiosity to give, which was what made them so charming to him. It was one of the things that made him fall for Kise, and what made him grow fond of a child he should have hated.

He placed his head on the desk and rested, before remembering that this was the last place to inspect. Lazily, he scanned the surface. There was a lamp, and a pencil holder filled with writing utensils – but was scarce of anything more. The tanned man glanced down and discovered three drawers, growing in size the lower they went. He started with the top one, only to be disappointed. Only spare notebooks, stacks of paper and a couple of boxes of pens, pencils and colour pencils sat there. With the second, medium-sized drawer, he found 3 more notebooks – but this time, they were labelled and signs of wear were noticeable. He shouldn't have, but curiosity overwhelmed him and he pulled out the oldest dated book, labelled "April."

_Wahh! Takicchi has turned five years old today! It's time for papa to teach you to write! Takicchi speaks so well, but I'm sure many people want to be able to read your thoughts as well! Like now! Papa is here in your room but you're sleeping! Naughty girl, ignoring me! Haha, Papa is joking! Takicchi is a good girl for sleeping by her bedtime. But at times like these, Papa wants to hear your voice~ If Takicchi writes, Papa can hear your 'voice' even if you're sleeping!_

_**hard**_

_Don't worry about not being to write a lot, okay sweetie? Papa will make sure to practice with you everyday, and read my messages to you! What would you like to eat for breakfast tomorrow?_

_**food**_

_Mm, Papa will need to teach you how to write different food names, huh? It's okay! We'll just wake up earlier and decide together! _

_**like basketball**_

_Today was fun, wasn't it? Takicchi is a genius, I say! Just like your parents..._

Aomine glanced through the rest of the book, filled with the model's paragraphs of text in his neat handwriting, and the short, sloppily written thoughts of the child's. He could imagine the many nights and days they spent, both pondering on what to write. Kise, carefully choosing his words to match her vocabulary. Taki, who has so much to say, but can't find the words to express them all.

He put the book down and switched to the most current one, flipping through nonchalantly. He didn't pay much attention to the text, until he reached the section dated for two weeks ago.

_**papa okay? bad man gone. don't cry. taki loves papa.**_

_Papa is fine. See? ^^ A happy face! _

Looking at the scribbled date, the pro figured that they were talking to me. Guiltily, he felt relieved that Kise had acted strangely enough that his daughter would ask him if he was all right. At least, he wasn't the only one affected. Skipping a couple of lines, he read:

_**papa box**_

_What box, Takicchi?_

_**down what is it**_

_The bottom drawer...? _

_**taki papa and ?**_

_It's nothing, Takicchi. You don't need to know. Papa promises to tell you one day, but not now okay? _

Kise was keeping a secret from her? Curious, he closed up the book and returned them to their place inside the second drawer. Closing it slowly, he reached to pull open the last drawer, as large as the previous two combined. Inside, was a black, metallic box. Heavy as it seemed, when the basketball pro shook it, the contents did not make a sound. Strangely, it was the box itself that was responsible for most of the weight. He lifted the lid, but found it resisting. Eyes bulging, he stuck his fingers deep under the lid and wrenched the heavy top with all of his might. With a subdued grunt, he heaved, before hearing a pop and feeling something shoot at him, just barely skinning his ear. In his hands, the lid had come off, but then he realized something a little too late.

The reason that it had not open was not because it was stuck... but because the box had been locked. Stupefied, he tried closing the top again, and it still fit. It didn't lock but hey – how would Kise know it was him who broke it? Alls well that ends well.

Finally, he was able to see what the other man had so desperately wanted to hide, from even his own daughter.

With his long fingers, he felt the inside of the box and was sure that his eyes weren't tricking him when he saw that only a single sheet of paper was hidden away.

His shoulders sagged and he groaned, all that for this?

"Well might as well read it,"he grumbled.

* * *

**Birth Certificate**

It is certified that Kise Taki

**Child Description:**

Sex: Female

Weight: 7 lbs

Height: 18 inches

**Parents' Description:**

Mother [Special Case: Father Who Conceived]

Given Name: Ryouta

Family Name: Kise

Father

Given Name: Daiki

Family Name: Aomine

Date of Birth: April 2, 2009

Place of Birth: Akashi Residence

Doctor Signature: -

MS Signature: -

* * *

Aomine didn't move. He didn't put the paper down or close the box or say anything at all, not even when he heard a voice call out. He had been tricked – no – led to believe a lie. All of those years, he had believed that Kise had left him for another woman. Now, what will he do? Frozen, he processed the information again.

Kise never had another woman... (well, technically, he never had _a woman)_

He didn't leave him because he stopped loving him

Taki is his daughter

"What the hell, Kise," Aomine muttered, covering his face with his large, tanned hands and crumpling the certificate in his hand.

* * *

Kise woke up coughing, only slightly aware of his parched throat and throbbing head. Barely, could he piece together the events that transpired that day, leaving him here on his bed.

Akashi and Kuroko had called him out earlier that afternoon, asking him to get a drink with them. He refused, obviously, because it was his rare chance to spend the whole day with his beloved daughter. However, the pair had come shortly over and seduced his little girl with their son and well, he couldn't refuse her when her eyes glowed like that. It made him a little sad that she chose to go play with Souta rather than spend time with him. Pouting, he wondered if this was how fathers felt when their daughters began dating.

Yawning, the model pushed that thought out of his mind. He would address that another day. For now, his heart couldn't handle the thought of some evil little turkey-head snatching away Taki.

Rubbing his aching temples, he proceeded to remember what happened afterwards.

Happy that their plan had worked, the two shorter men kidnapped Kise and dragged him to a bar. There, ignoring his protests, they ordered countless times, forcing Kise to consume drink after drink. Eventually, he passed out and ... well he woke up here.

Unfortunately, it seemed that he had passed out and couldn't remember a lick of what happened in the past couple of hours. Seeing as he was in his own bed though, he guessed that the couple had brought him home.

"Ugh..." he struggled to speak. He cleared his voice a couple of times, and it got better, but it still sounded scratchy. Stretching his arms above his head, he got up and stumbled his way towards his door.

_Water, _he thought, cupping his head with his large hands. Yes, water was going to relieve the dang hangover of his for a bit.

When he left his room though, closing the door with a click, a bright halo came to sight. As he squinted, he found that Taki's door was slightly open, lights on.

_Geez, how could they leave her here with me when I'm this wasted?_ he thought angrily.

The couple was probably long gone now, so Kise decided to drop the subject until tomorrow. Knocking on the door, he called out sweetly, "Takicchi! Papa's going to come in!"

He didn't receive a response, which was odd.

"Takicchi? What's wrong?" He said louder, knocking once again.

"Takicchi, are you in pain somewhere?" He started to push open the door, "Let papa help yo – "

In place of his three-foot tall child, sat a tanned six-foot giant.

"Aominecchi... how did you – ah, no – what are you doing in here?"

Anxiety built up in his chest and he could feel his palms sweat. When the blue haired man didn't move, or speak, he walked cautiously towards him. The blonde stopped several centimetres away, feeling self-conscious. Awkwardly, he reached out but froze – he couldn't bring himself to touch the other man.

"A-Aominecchi?" the sound of his past boyfriend's name felt strange and painful on the model's tongue.

"Kise."

He recoiled. Aomine had only said his name but... it was the way he said it that made him retreat. The man's voice had been low, but filled with so much intensity and ferociousness that Kise's knees almost gave way right there.

"What is it, Aominecchi?"

"I need to ask you something."

"I-it's not really a good time..."

"No," he barked, "You'll answer me here and now. Don't try to run away."

Kise whimpered, and understood that he could not defy this man right now. There was something different about him. Aomine was usually domineering, but at this moment he would not take anything but a yes from him – like Akashi.

"What do you want to ask?" he squeaked.

"This," the man was taking slow, deep breaths and looked to be struggling to find the proper words, "What is this?"

"I can't see it, Aominecchi."

Trembling, the taller man stood up and turned to face him. The screech of the chair caused the model to take a step back. He tilted his head to try and look at the other man's face, but it was lowered, so Kise couldn't see his expression well. With an outstretched arm, Aomine unravelled his tanned hand to reveal a crumpled piece of paper.

Hesitantly, the blonde took the ball of paper and watched as Aomine winced when his finger grazed the man's skin. With his own long, pale fingers, he smoothed out the material and his eyes bulged out. In his hands, was Taki's birth certificate in which their names were printed clearly.

"This...How did you – !" Kise bolted behind the man to discover his safety box pried open.

"Answer my question," the pro said, flatly.

"Why did you do that! It's an invasion of my privacy!"

"Answer my question."

"You had no business being in here and – "

"Kise!"

The model trembled in fear at the raw voice he heard, and felt a strong force push him, making him unbalanced and causing him to fall onto the bed. Before he could regain his senses, he felt his hands being restrained above his head and saw a large body loom over him, covering the light.

"Aominecchi, let go of me," he snarled.

"After you answer my damn question!"

"A birth certificate, okay? That's what it is! Now let go of me!"

"That's not it, you bastard!" his voice grew louder, "What the hell is she? What the hell are _you?_"

"It's what you think it is, goddammit!" the blonde felt tears well in his eyes. He couldn't hold it anymore and blurted, "She's your daughter... she's _our_ daughter!"

Disbelief flickered across the man's face, "Don't shit with me, Kise! You expect me to believe that?"

"Believe what you will!" the tears were streaming down his face now, but he didn't care anymore, "You've seen her, you've read that document. It's right before your stupid eyes!"

Aomine looked ready to slug him, "_Fuck!_"

No other words in his vocabulary could express what he wanted to say.

"I was supposed to have been a girl," Kise snarled, "But I developed into a boy while still keeping the inner female reproductive system. Funny, isn't it? If I hadn't become a freak of nature, we could have been _a normal couple._"

The model laughed bitterly, cursing his own life.

"Hah," he continued, "Actually, even if I was still born a boy, if only these stupid things inside of me weren't there, at least we could have been a normal gay couple. The million dollar question here is _why couldn't I have been normal!_"

Aomine's straight face didn't change – devoid of emotion.

"How long have you known?"

Kise turned his face away, "Since that summer."

"That summer, five years ago?"

"Yes."

"So you've known before I even left, that you wouldn't be going with me," the pro whispered, more of a statement than a question.

Kise closed his eyes and said, sadly, "That's right – I never planned on going with you."

"Why?"

Warm liquid fell onto the blonde's cheeks, quickly turning cold. He looked up surprise, and saw the most heart-breaking expression plastered all over Aomine's face. The man looked betrayed, tears spilling out of the edges of his eyes. It was the expression someone wore when the shock had finally gone and the truth has sunk in. It was the expression someone only wore when they couldn't hold it in any longer, and Kise knew even without being told, that this pain was what's been bottled up in the man for five years.

"Why?" Aomine repeated, "_Why?!_"

He was shouting now, shoulders shaking from the raw emotions pouring out.

"Did you not_ trust_ me? Was I not _good enough_?"

"Aominecchi..." the model swallowed. He had no idea what to say. All that came to his mind sounded like excuses.

"Did I not love you enough?"

Kise frantically shook his head to deny that, "No.. no, that could never be it. You loved me so much that I could never have asked more. Those years we spent together were – no – _still are_ the happiest time in my life. Don't ever think like that!"

"Then why, Kise? Tell me _why._ How should I think? Why won't you tell me the reason? _I've been waiting for five damn years!_"

"I..."

Kise bit his bottom lip. Now was the time to put those reasons into words, those reasons that had sounded so justified in his own mind. He had held onto them so strongly to try to cover up the pain and guilt.

"I was afraid you'd hate me, reject me..."

"Bullshit."

"_I know_," he felt the familiar ache, "But that's what I told the others."

"So?" He snapped, "Hurry up and spit it out the real reason, damn it!"

"I-," he had to hold back his tears, so he could sound legible, "I didn't want to be the reason you didn't go to America. The reason you'd give up your chance."

He waited for it, for the tanned man to dismiss it. He waited for the man to say that he wouldn't have not gone. But Aomine didn't give him any of that.

In its place, he said, "What would you do now then, if I quit basketball now?"

"You can't!" Kise struggled against him, trying to force him off of himself.

Aomine's grip tightened instead, and he remained stable above the man.

"Oh," his azure eyes grew hard, "but I can, Kise. This sport caused me to lose you for all of these years. It caused me to _miss five years _of my first-born daughter's life. Why should I continue playing it, when nothing good has come out of it?"

Hearing this, Kise only fought harder. He was speechless... and so afraid.

"Did you ever think about that, Kise? What I would do if I found out?"

"You wouldn't have gone to America, I knew that!" he shouted in frustration, "I thought so hard about it and I was so afraid."

"_Well you didn't think hard enough!_"

The pro let go of other man's arms, and leaned back until he sat on his knees with Kise between his legs. Holding onto the model's face, he positioned it so their eyes met.

"Don't turn away. Look at me."

Kise obeyed.

"You were right – I would have stayed."

The blonde tried to say "I knew it," but Aomine covered his mouth with a hand.

"What you didn't understand, is that not going to America then didn't mean I'd give up basketball. Don't give me the crap about it being a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Do you not remember who the hell I am? I am a one-in-a-thousand-million miracle. As long as I kept playing, no matter where I am, I'd be noticed, and one day I'd play in the big leagues anyways. It was never a matter of _if,_ but _when_."

His words took it's time to sink into Kise, who began to stop squirming. Aomine watched as the realization dawned onto the model, and dropped his hand.

"You..." Kise looked up at him, confused and with eyes filled with regret, "I... never thought about it. Never thought deep enough, far enough..."

Kise covered his eyes with as his tears of shock fell down.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." he kept murmuring.

Aomine with the same sad dazed expression watched him in solemnity, not quite being there at the moment. Without a sound, he got off the man and walked towards the doorway.

After reaching the hallway, the pro lingered there for a second. Without turning his back, he spoke quietly, just loud enough for Kise to hear.

"Kise," he said in a grave voice, "I'm leaving in less than a month, when my vacation ends."

The blonde didn't respond.

"When the time comes, I'll be taking Taki with me to America. I'm prepared to take you into court to do so."

With dead eyes, the man left the room and in the blackness of his closed eyelids, Kise continued to let the tears fall as he heard the sombre footsteps fade. His door chimed open, then clicked close.

"I'm sorry..." he cried, clutching onto his shirt, "I'm so sorry."

* * *

A/N: Hello! Chapter 6~ The inevitable finally happened! Aomine found out! Ahh, Aomine was more heart-broken than angry here. But I hope you don't dislike Kise too much (or me for the matter xD)! He was young and naïve. I've kind of made him become a teenage girl it seems... although it's kind of befitting. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, even with all of the build-up (I'm sorry if it was a bit boring OTL) Until next time ~

P.S To the guest that reviewed, thank you for reviewing! There's no such thing as an unimportant review. I'm always happy to hear from my readers ! :DD Sorry that I can't reply to you, but if you don't have an account I can't PM you. OTL.


	7. Chapter 7: Even If I Should, I Don't

"What's wrong with you today, Ahomine?"

The small blonde kicked him in the back of his knee.

While trying to stay balanced, Aomine glared at her.

"Don't kick people, didn't your dad teach you better?"

"You're not a person. You're an Ahomine," she snorted, "You deserved it anyways. What a sloppy game you're playing."

"Hmph," he tapped her head with his knuckles, "For all your talk, you still haven't beaten me even though I'm playing half-heartedly."

"Geez, it's because you're acting like this. I'm showing you mercy. What will I do if I crush you so badly that you quit basketball?"

He ruffled her hair and smiled, "Yeah, yeah. You're a good girl, thanks."

"..." she gave him a disgusted scowl.

"What?"

Slapping his hand away, she backed away slowly before running towards Kuroko who had just returned to the gym.

"Hey, Tetsu-kun! I think Ahomine is sick. He's acting all nice and gross and stuff!"

"What – who you calling gross!"

The pro strode towards the girl who had climbed into the arms of the smaller man.

"Ahomine's gross, gross, yucky, creepy and gross!" she chanted playfully.

"Be quiet, you brat!" he reached to pinch her cheeks.

"Uwaa! Ahomine is a violent pervert!"

"Who'd want to perv on a kid like you!?"

"Don't be gross, Aomine-kun, calm down."

"Man, not you too, Tetsu."

The basketball player let out a muffled curse and looked away. He still couldn't get the fact that Taki was his biological daughter. Now that he looks at her, he could see himself in her better than before. Definitely, those azure eyes were his, and her personality came from him (unfortunately). Although he no longer hurt himself with thoughts of what the girl's non-existent mother was like when he looked at her, he felt awkward at times. Just how should he act around her? Should he dote on her more? Looking at the current situation, the answer would be no.

"Taki-san, Kise-kun has come for you," Kuroko's voice rang in the nearly empty gym, and Aomine snapped back into reality.

"Papa's here?" She jumped down and hopped up and down eagerly, "I've got to go then! See you, Ahomine, Tetsu-kun!"

He wanted to tell her goodbye, or to be safe, but she was gone before he could make up his mind.

"Ah – Aomine-kun,"

"What now, Tetsu?"

"You're free this evening, aren't you?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Don't go home just yet. Akashi-kun wants to talk to you about something. He told me to invite you to dinner."

"No need, I'll just tell him whatever he wants to hear about in his office."

"He insisted. Meet us in the lobby. We'll be going out to dine. 'Not buts.' Akashi-kun had told me to say."

"Yeah, all right, I got it," the man grumbled.

* * *

"Tell me what happened between you and Ryouta Saturday night."

Aomine choked on his wine, sputtering the liquid on the table, his food and his clothes messily. He was expecting the question to pop out, but it didn't unnerve him any less. Akashi looked at him thoughtfully, sizing up his reaction. Through those heterochromatic eyes, you could see him creating different scenarios and calculating what had occurred in that house behind the cover of the night.

"Ryouta won't talk, even when I threaten him. He's withdrawn, and is always flaunting that fake model smile around," the red-head continued.

Kuroko handed the choking man napkins to clean up his mess, "I think Aomine-kun's found out the truth about Taki-san."

"How'd you know?" he coughed.

"You've changed your attitude towards her," the smaller man grew irritated at Aomine's clumsy hands and began to wipe up the water for him, "Anyone can tell. Even Taki-san has come to notice the changes, Mr. Gross."

"Don't let Tetsu keep caring after you," Akashi said in a low threatening voice while glowering at the pro.

Scared, Aomine shifted himself slightly away from Kuroko.

"It's fine, let me," the light blue hair man said.

"Uh, no," he felt a killing intent in front of him, "I-I'm good..."

Shrugging ,the other man put down the napkins and continued sipping his milkshake.

"So you found out... well, it's about time," the former captain stated, "What did you do after?"

In his mind he recalled how angry and hurt he had been, and how forceful he had dealt with Kise. He blushed when he remembered how he forced Kise onto the bed and then was embarrassed by the next detail after.

"About that... I just said it on the spur of the moment," he murmured.

"And what did you say?" Akashi raised an eyebrow.

"Funny story...," he scratched his head, "I told him that at the end of my vacation, I'd take him to court to gain custody of Taki... and take her back to America."

Two pairs of blank eyes stared at him disappointingly.

"Aomine-kun, you're really stupid."

"Tetsu!?"

"Tetsuya is right, Daiki," Akashi shook his head, "Think about it, would you even be able to win the case? It'd be kind of pointless if you went, only to go back to America alone."

Kuroko agreed, "Kise-kun has the advantage. The court will rule in favour of the child's well-being. Kise-kun has been with Taki-san for the past five years, taking care of her. He knows everything there is to about her. Aomine-kun, you, on the other hand, don't know her or how to take care of children. Plus, you'd be removing a young child from her home country and dragging her into an unknown world. She'd be extremely lonely and uncomfortable without Kise-kun."

"Okay, yeah I get, okay?" Aomine grumbled, "Stupid move – I know. I was just really angry and hurt that he never told me."

"You sound like a teenage girl."

"Shut up, Tetsu."

"Well it wasn't a completely fruitless antic," Akashi stirred the contents of his drink, Ryouta is so dense that he probably doesn't realize that Daiki can't win."

"Kise-kun is probably heartbroken and dying of regret. You must be happy, Aomine-kun."

"Don't make me sound like the villain," he shot him a look, "Yeah, I'm pissed as hell because of that guy. I didn't mean to hurt him on purpose though, it just happened that way."

"What are you going to do now?"

He never thought of that. Staring at his pensive captain, he honestly spoke out, "I don't know."

"Do you really want to bring Taki-san back with you?" Kuroko asked.

"I don't know. I haven't even spent that much time with her. She's a great kid, I see that. I'm sure I'll eventually grow to love her but I just don't know."

"Even if you can grow to love her, that doesn't mean she will be able to do the same to you."

"That's true, too," Aomine leaned back, "If I take her away from her daddy-dearest, I'm sure she'll just grow up to hate me."

The tanned basketball player glanced away, focusing on anything but the two other men. Akashi and Kuroko could see that he was deep in his own thoughts, troubled with no idea of what he should do.

"What about Ryouta?"

"What about him?"

Akashi frowned, "How do you feel about him, now that you know the facts?"

"I hate him..."

Kuroko and his partner exchanged sombre glances.

"... Is what I'd like to say."

"Aomine-kun..."

The man rested his head against the chair and gave the couple a rueful smile.

"I find it strange myself too. That bastard's hidden something like this from me – he betrayed me. When I got home that night, you know what I did? I screamed, I shouted. I took a pair of scissors and slashed all of the pillows in that hotel room. I cursed my life, I cursed god, I cursed him – but still I couldn't being myself hate him. On the nights I couldn't sleep, I couldn't even imagine beating his sorry ass. Instead, I kept remembering the times we spent together. I remembered our kisses, how we made love, his annoying voice and how much I loved him."

"Have you thought about getting back together with him?"

He reached for his glass and swigged the remnants of his drink in one-shot.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't. But after all this, I don't even know if I can try. I get that he was scared, and – from the little knowledge I have about pregnancy – that those hormone things or whatever were messing with him, but he's not without blame. If only he had trusted me."

"Ryouta must think that way too."

Akashi looked at Aomine with purposeful eyes.

"He feels unworthy of you now. He feels that if he were to go after you now, you'd see him as a pathetic gold digger."

"I thought you said he wouldn't talk to you."

"He didn't tell me anything, but I know."

Knowing Akashi, that was probably true.

"Are you telling me that you want me to chase after him again?"

"What I want is irrelevant – Daiki, what do _you_ want?"

"Jesus, stop it with this psychology crap. You're messing up my head."

"I won't pester you for an answer now, Daiki. But think about it long and hard. Now you know the facts – don't make a decision you know you will regret."

"... I don't need you to tell me that."

* * *

After dinner, Aomine laid on his bed, ruminating again on what he should do. His recent memories of Kise played in his head like a slideshow, before being overlapped with the past. Thinking through this now, he's come to see how much the model has changed, both physically and mentally. On the outside, the hard years of single parenting were ever-present, with the dark bags, sunken cheeks and light frown lines. He was paler and scrawnier – probably from the lack of sleep and exercise. Within, the other man had grown up more mature and dark. The high school Kise was always bubbly and cheery. This young man who should still have the energy of a youth was always hiding something behind his hazel eyes – a boundless sea of regret and guilt.

Covering his head with a pillow the staff was kind enough to replace, Aomine closed his eyes. He tried to picture what Kise would have felt all those years ago.

_Kise, were you afraid? Ah, that was stupid to ask. Of course you were. _

The blue head imagined how he'd feel to find out after sixteen years that he was technically female on the inside – was supposed to have been female. Worst yet, he would have had to find out pregnant. He shivered, horrified by that thought.

_Were your parents shocked? Angry? Did your sisters freak out?_

He thought of how they might have yelled at him, cursed at the blonde, and how hard Kise would have had to hold back his tears. He thought of how he'd have held Kise in his arms and spoke in his defence.

_It's been hard on you too, hasn't it?_

All this time, he's been blaming the blonde. If only, if only – what had he, himself done in these five years? Recalling the long years after he got to America, he reminded himself that not once did he try to meet up with Kise. When he got off, he called and he emailed... but why didn't he ever go back? In these five years, he's had multiple vacations... but only now had he returned to Japan. It would've been easy, to hop on a plane and come home – he could even just use the excuse of visiting his parents.

_That's right... I was afraid, _he thought, _No. I wasn't just afraid, I was a coward. Scared to hear the truth, scared to be rejected...Kise, I felt the same way as you did._

Flipping his body so that he was laying face down, he forced the gate to his memories to unlock, consciously. Ignoring all of the heartache it brought him, he focused alternatively on each Kise-related memory.

_"Aominecchi! Aominecchi! L-Look! We're so high up... oh my god we're going dooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooown!"_

_"Stop screaming like a girl, idiot! Ouch! You're squeezing my arm too tightly!"_

That was the first time they rode a roller coaster together. Kise's grip did hurt but he didn't mind.

_"Cheese!"_

_"Wet go ouf ma cheeks!"_

_Kise pouted, "If I don't do this, then you won't smile!"_

_The blonde let go and exited the booth. _

_"Besides, look! It's a cute picture, don't you think?"_

_"Tch," the tanned boy blushed, "Whatever. You're paying for it!"_

_"Eh," he whined, "Isn't the man supposed to pay for these things?"_

_"Huh?" Aomine rolled his eyes, "We're both 'the man' here!"_

_"Ah, you're right!" Kise let out a cheery laugh._

He loved that laugh. He wanted to hear it again so badly.

_"Hey, Aominecchi?"_

_"What?"_

_"What would you think of us having a family?"_

_He raised his eyebrows._

_"I meant like.. you know... if we had a baby of our own."_

_"I don't know. Never thought that far ahead. We're only sixteen anyways. Besides," he scoffed, "I think our kid will grow up weird, with no mom. I don't want to make a kid grow up ashamed to have gay parents."_

_Kise laughed nervously, "Hahaha... You're right..."_

"Oh..."

Replaying that last memory again, he smothered his face in the fluffy pillow. Why hadn't he felt it before? Kise was discreetly trying to get his attention, to get some confidence that the other boy wouldn't reject him. Of course, it was kind of stupid to expect that the pro could pick up that something was wrong with only those vague hints but still... Kise did try, albeit not hard enough it seems.

He groaned, "Damn it, Kise. What do you want me to do?"

* * *

The next day, Aomine stood nervously in front of the white garage, pacing back and forth. He readjusted his collar, and cleared his voice a couple of times.

_Just act cool, you can do this, Daiki._

"Ah, shit," he murmured to himself, "How lame did I get that I have to give myself pep talks?"

Inhaling deeply, he clenched his fist and stomped up the two steps. Shaking, he pushed the small doorbell with one of his long fingers. As the chime ringed, it took all of his willpower to not turn around and bolt.

Rapid footsteps could be heard from behind the door, followed by calm ones. With his heart racing, he reached a clammy hand to wipe the sweat off his brow. The lock clicked and the door slowly opened. Behind the door, in the entrance way, two pairs of eyes stared at him.

"Uh, 'sup, Kise."

"..." the model stood, frozen.

"Hmm? What's Ahomine doing here?"

The little girl let go of her father's pants and walked towards the pro.

"I, uh, have some things to talk about with your father."

"What? You better not be complaining to papa and asking him to make me go easy on you."

"As if, you brat," he reached down to ruffle her hair. Taki squealed and punched him in the stomach.

"Ah," the small exchange seemed to have brought Kise back to his senses, "C-come in..."

The blonde man awkwardly stepped aside, gesturing for him to enter.

Anxiously, Aomine walked inside and removed his shoes.

"Takicchi? Be a good girl and go play in your room, okay?"

"What? Why can't I stay here?"

"Please just listen to papa today, okay?"

Taki frowned and opened her mouth to retort, but chose to instead obey.

The two men watched as tiny feet clambered up the stairs and disappeared into a room.

"Um, this way," Kise started walking over to the kitchen. Aomine followed him to a quaint room with marble counters and pale yellow walls. Near the sliding door that led to the blonde's patio was a round table and he went to take a seat in one of the chairs.

"Would you like something to drink?" Kise's voice was high, filled with the same uneasiness that Aomine too was feeling.

"Just water is fine."

The fridge door popped open and the sound of water pouring could be heard. Kise soon after walked to the polished wooden table with two glasses of ice water. Accompanied with gentle clinking noises, he set a glass in front of the tanned man and held onto one for himself. Both of them stared at their own sights; Aomine fiddled with his glass and Kise stared out the window, absentmindedly.

"So," they both said at the same time.

"Ah, you first," Aomine said, voice cracking.

"N-no, you first. Please," Kise was acting jumpy, which was to be expected, considering how well their last meeting went. Flustered, the man took a straw from the holder and then started sipping his drink fervently.

"Okay," he put down his drink onto the table. "I've been... thinking about last Saturday."

He paused, and looked at Kise who avoided eye contact. Clearing his throat, he continued, "And well, I think that I should spend more time with your – no, our daughter. Like, take her places and uh, stuff."

Aomine hated how much he was stuttering.

"You want to bond with her more."

"Yeah, basically."

Kise winced, "I don't have much of a say in this matter, do I? I don't have the right to tell you that you can't spend time with her..."

"Yeah..."

Kise fell quiet again, and Aomine fidgeted in his seat. The silence made him uncomfortable.

"I was sort of thinking that, you know, I'd start today."

"You want to bring her somewhere today?" The blonde clutched his glass tightly, "It's kind of sudden, don't you think?"

"I know, but it's also not like I have a lot of time."

His grip loosened, "Oh... that's right. You're leaving in less than a month..."

Aomine lifted a fist and faked a cough, "But you know, I was well, kind of thinking of asking you to tag along."

"Me?" Kise looked at him with bewildered eyes.

"Don't get the wrong idea!" Aomine said, flushed, "It'll probably be easier for her to be comfortable if her pops around, you know. And you know what they say about kids! If someone they care about acts friendly to another person, they'd bond more quickly."

Kise's face fell in what the pro saw as disappointment. Aomine's felt butterflies in his stomach.

"I think that's the saying for dogs."

Was it? Aomine didn't know, "S-same thing!"

"Are you calling our daughter a dog?" Kise scowled at him.

_Our daughter. _The butterflies grew erratic, as if those two words gave them a caffeine boost.

"What, no –! T-that's not what I meant. Well, she is kind of but so were you and she's your daughter and, oh I meant that you just acted like a dog, in a good way, how you'd follow me around and since she's your kid and ah –"

Kise's eyes grew gentler, and he laughed quietly. The sweet sound of it made Aomine blush and heart flutter.

With a nostalgic expression, Kise said, "You haven't changed all that much, Aominecchi."

He looked away embarrassed, "You've changed a lot."

The blonde let out a chuckle, "I've become a jaded man."

"Uh, yeah, anyways, get moving. Um, I mean, if you could please hurry. If we don't go now, the sun will start setting."

_He's acting so formal, _Kise thought sadly.

"Where are we going?" The blonde asked.

"You'll see when we get there."

Kise dismissed this with a wave and got up from his chair. Before leaving, he looked Aomine in the eyes and asked, honestly, "Is it really all right if I go?"

The other man stared back firmly with his clear, determined eyes.

"I don't hate you, Kise. Even if I should, I don't."

Hearing these words, the model quickly mumbled that he needed to excuse himself to get the young girl. Sprinting up the stairs, he rushed to the Taki's room and slammed the door shut.

"Papa?" the girl looked at him with wide eyes.

Kise dropped to the floor and pulled her close.

_"I don't hate you, Kise. Even if I should, I don't."_

"What should I do?" he whimpered.

Warm hands wrapped around him and for the nth time, he was grateful for the comfort.

* * *

A/N: Lalalalala~ Back to school chapter (Thank god it was a late start. I was looking at Aokise fanart all night)~

This time, it's a dialogue heavy chapter~ Return of the AkaKuro couple! I really want to write smut for them hehehe.

Was that (the forgiving part) too fast? Did it seem unnatural that Aomine was able to ask Kise out so quickly? I hope it didn't seem too rushed. But I also didn't want to put in days worth of Aomine pondering. You can see a confused and ruminating Kise though. I hope to show Kise's good points soon lala. See you lovelies next time! And as always, I hope you had fun reading it!


	8. Chapter 8: Nope, Not a Dream

Maybe it was because it was a Saturday, or early afternoon, perhaps even because it was both, but the subway was extra crowded today. Forget seats, even finding a place to stand was difficult. On every side of Aomine, someone was jabbing him somewhere or glaring at him to get out of their face. During more than one occasion, he had to squeeze closer to his blonde companions. Thankfully, Kise was carrying Taki in his arms, forming a sort of barrier between the two men. Aomine didn't know how he'd live if his face was any closer to the model's.

As the train moved further though, more of the passengers got out rather than on, and eventually there was enough breathing room to calm the pro's heart. From the corner of his eye, he spotted an empty spot and walked towards it.

"Kise," he said, gesturing for the other man to sit.

"Oh, I'm okay. You can go ahead."

"You must be tired and aren't you know... more fragile after _that_ happened," he pointed at the oblivious girl.

The blonde gave him a strange look, "It's been five years. I don't think it's normal, even for women, after all of these years."

"Oh," he blushed, embarrassed.

Kise let out a shy smile, "Thanks anyways. Takicchi would probably like to sit down too," and the father-daughter pair plopped down onto the red velvet seats.

"Neh, papa, where are we going?" Taki tilted her head back, almost falling backwards to look at her dad.

Smiling, he rested his chin on his little girl's head, "Hm? I wonder that too. You'll have to ask Aominecchi."

"Where are you taking us and why, Ahomine?"

"What's with the sudden change of tone?" The blue haired man said.

"You appear out of nowhere and make us go out with you. Don't you have any friends? Oh wait, you're an Ahomine."

"Kise is my friend," _actually ex-lover but she doesn't need to know_.

Rolling her eyes she snapped, "Papa probably felt sorry for you and talked to you once."

He flicked her forehead and dismissed her statement.

"You are so not cute. Why can't you act sweet for me too?" Aomine raised his voice and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Say, 'Where are we going, Aomine-sama?"

Taki cringed and tried to hide herself in her father's chest, "Yuck. Don't be so gross and answer the question."

"Don't call me gross, you brat."

"Shut up, stupid."

"No, you shut up, stupid."

"Brat."

"Don't copy me!" they both said.

Taki pointed an accusing finger at him, "You copied me first!"

"I was thinking that you were stupid even before you said that I was. Besides, a brat shouldn't call someone else a brat."

"Stop calling me a brat."

"A brat is a brat."

She raised a shaking fist at him threateningly.

Kise patted her on the head, "Aominecchi, it'd be nice if you didn't bully my daughter."

"Hey, you can't gang up. Two on one isn't fair."

Their eyes met and an uneasy silence followed. It was awkward trying to act like the last five years never happened. But if they didn't, they wouldn't be able to get through the day.

_"Next stop, - Zoo. Next stop - Zoo,"_ the robotic female subway recording announced.

"We're getting off here," Aomine told the pair, while walking towards the exit.

"We're going to he zoo?" Kise followed but with a sceptical look on his face.

"Yeah. Got a problem with that?"

"Ah, no..."

Making their way up the stairs and out of the station, the group was met with a warm breeze and blaring sunlight. Across the street was a large sign with a giraffe on it.

"What is the zoo?"

"See? You are stupid."

"Be quiet, Ahomine."

"You're the idiot."

"Aominecchi..." Kise was glaring.

Putting up his hands as if to say he was just joking, the tanned man tried to calm down the blonde.

"Takicchi, the zoo is a place where we can see animals."

"Really? Like elephants and tigers!"

"Yes, like the ones in your picture books."

Aomine watched as her eyes grew wide from excitement. Wriggling to get down from the other man's arms, she tugged both of their hands.

"Come on! What are we waiting for? Time's a-wasting boys!"

"Slow down, hot-shot," he laughed, "We have to wait for the light to turn. Don't want to get run over before you get to see them."

Slightly disappointed, Taki nodded in acknowledgement that the man was right, but was still jittery and impatient. She kept hopping, switching from one foot to another and bouncing up and down like she had ants-in-her-pants. Finally, the light turned red and the little white outline of a man appeared. Excited, she bolted right out onto the street – just as a car sped past the red-light.

"Takicchi!"

She froze, body rigid, dilating pupils. The rusting car tried to swerve away but anyone could have seen that it was too late for the driver to dodge.

She'd be hit.

* * *

_I can't let that happen._

* * *

Aomine sprinted faster than he ever had before, not caring that his joints screamed and protested from the sudden burst. He reached his long tan arms around the petrified girl and shot their bodies forward, narrowly dodging the vehicle. Not having time to prepare for a landing, they crashed into the ground, skidding, and rolling on the pavement before hitting a pole.

When he opened his eyes, he saw the world spinning and was only vaguely aware of what was happening. He looked down and was shocked to see blood, dripping down the child's pale face.

"H-hey! Are you okay?"

She was cold, and trembling.

"Taki, can you hear me? Are you okay?"

Tears stemmed at the edges of her eyes, but she managed to nod her head slightly. She looked up with frightened eyes.

"Uh..."

"Where does it hurt?" he shouted, afraid that she could be dying before his eyes.

"Taki is... I am okay..."

"You are so not okay! You're bleeding!"

With a hand, she reached to touch his face. Where her fingers grazed sent a wave of pain through him, "The blood isn't mine. It's yours..."

Reaching for his pocket, he fumbled with his cell phone. Clumsily opening it, he discovered that he had scratches all over his right cheek and temple.

"Are you okay?" her voice trembled hoarsely with worry.

"Yeah, this is nothing," he tried to reassure her.

From the distance, he heard shouts and saw a crowd form. Staggering, he stood up, slightly dizzy from his injuries.

Taki grasped onto him and lowered her face as they approached the scene. Pushing others out-of-the-way, they saw a man getting his face pounded in by none other than Kise.

"You fucking asshole!" the model was screaming, "You could have killed her!"

Murmurs arose from around the crowd, some afraid and others egging the blonde on.

"Why were you so stupid? What would you have done if I lost them both!?"

His amber eyes had grown into the dark hazel which Aomine knew signalled that the man was losing control. Dropping the weakened girl onto her two little feet, he told her to stay put and wait for him, before pulling Kise off the driver.

"Let go of me! This bastard deserves to die!"

"Stop it, Kise!" he pleaded, "We're both okay. There's no point in becoming a murderer!"

Words weren't working and Aomine was glad that Kise had shrunken over the years he's been away. If the other man had continued building muscle the way he used to, holding him down would have proven even more difficult than it already was.

"Kise, it's over. Just stop!"

Without a choice, Aomine had to pin him down. Pushing the model face down, he pinned the man's arms behind his back and shivered when he saw his expression. It was a face twisted and consumed by rage, not unlike the face a mother bear made when someone threatened her cubs. He scolded himself for thinking this, but couldn't help but think how befitting it was considering how they're at the zoo and all.

Feeling that Kise was not ready to calm down, he glared at the bloodied driver, "If you value your life, get the fuck out of here. I never want to see your sorry face again!"

Scrambling like a frightened prey, the driver fled into his car and drove away.

To the rest of the crowd, he shouted, "Move along! There's nothing to see here."

Slowly, the people dispersed, some glowering at him for his attitude and others showing concern over the accident. Neither of their actions were of any help to them.

"Kise, he's gone now. Get yourself together now," he growled.

The model's rage remained unchanged, and Aomine began to wonder if he should knock the other man out. He didn't want to be here when the police came. "Top model beats the living daylight out of driver" as the headline of every paper wouldn't be very good publicity for Kise's career. He didn't care about the saying, "there's no such thing as bad publicity." What kind of idiot would want to be known as a cold-blooded killer?

Taki popped out from behind his aching back and began patting her papa's head, fearlessly, "Papa needs to cool down, or else you have to go sit in the time out corner."

"Oi, you can't get so close. He's dangerous right now."

She ignored him and kept her eyes on her father, "Violence is never the answer, papa you taught me that. Remember when you yelled at me when I hit stupid Souta? Does Taki need to yell at papa too?"

Aomine glanced nervously between the parent and child, but felt relieved when Kise's expression began to soften.

"Papa is supposed to be Taki's role model. You can't be like this," she scolded, "What if Taki grows up to be an abusive housewife when she's older?"

Kise's face eventually returned to a normal colour compared to the feverish red it was minutes before. His eyes lightened, and his muscles relaxed under the tanned man's hold.

"We can't have that, can we Takicchi?" His voice was strained and obviously faking humour.

With a tired voice the model also grumbled, "I'm okay now. You can get off me, Aominecchi."

He was hesitant, and shifted uncomfortably.

"The asshole's long gone. I won't do anything. What? Do you enjoy sitting on me?"

Kise joked wearily, and Aomine got up from embarrassment.

"Takicchi," the man whispered, and she ran into his open arms.

She embraced him desperately, and Kise held her, afraid to let go as if she'd disappear like a dream.

"You're okay, really okay?"

"Mm," she agreed, face buried in his hair.

"You can cry, you know."

The child shook her head aggressively, "Taki won't cry. Taki needs to be strong for papa."

"It should be the other way around. You're spoiling me," he murmured into her tiny shoulders.

"It's okay to be spoiled once in awhile," she whispered back.

Awkwardly, Aomine extended a hand, to which Kise grabbed hold of. With a tug, the tanned man helped the blonde to his feet.

Still snuggling with the young girl, Kise's eyes widened with worry when his eyes set on Aomine, "Aominecchi, you're bleeding."

"This?" he shrugged, "It's nothing. I'll live."

Creases appeared across Kise's forehead and the model grabbed hold of his hand.

"You are definitely not fine. Come, we need to get you to a first aid station. I'm sure the zoo has one."

* * *

"Ouch!" Aomine yelped in pain, "Be more gentle!"

"Man up," Kise frowned, but tried to use less force than before.

After he had calmed down, the blonde had frantically towed the basketball player to the front gates. Panicking, he had ran past all of the customers who waited in line, cutting them and earning their complaints. In a frenzy, he had demanded they let the three of them in, and yelled at the cashier when they asked for payment. Eventually, the manager had come out and Kise had babbled a barely eligible tale. Unable to take it anymore, Aomine had stepped in, paid for their tickets and set the manager straight. Finally understanding the situation, the manager had been kind enough to call a guard to escort them and explained to the grumbling patrons behind that it was an emergency.

Shamed of being so useless, Kise sat sulking while he treated the other man, highly conscious of the injuries he had sustained.

"It must hurt," he muttered, as he covered a scratch with a wide bandage.

"It's nothing."

Kise could feel the tears well up, and he wiped them away with his arm.

"Thank you," he whimpered, "Thank you for saving her, and thank you for coming back alive."

Aomine stared at him, and Kise felt suddenly flustered. He whipped his head away.

"Stop looking so sad," a hand grabbed hold of his own, "I'm fine. Who do you think I am?"

Turning back to face Aomine, he couldn't help but feel his face heat up.

_Wow, _he thought, _our faces are so close._

Less than an inch away, their noses just barely touched. The blonde felt his chest tighten each time the other exhaled, moist warm breaths embracing his dry lips. So much, he wanted to lick his lips and lean in further...

"Kise," the tanned man raised a hand and touched his face, and Kise recoiled.

"Oh, um," he started flailing his arms wildly, "I-I'll go and return the kit! Takicchi, take care of him for me."

Aomine watched as he walked away in a hurry.

"What were you two doing?"

The blonde girl leaned over and climbed into his lap. He almost had forgotten that she was there.

"Nothing," he sighed.

Her eyes implied that she didn't believe that for a second, but chose wisely to not question him anymore. Nestling herself down, she rested her head against his chest and closed her eyes.

_So this was her idea of "taking care of me," _he thought. Not that he minded. She was warm – really warm and Aomine thought to himself that this was probably why Kise loved hugging her so much. So soft, so warm and she smelled so sweet. He's embraced many women before, ever since his youth, but only she comforted him, even more than painkillers. No perfume or any other strong scents. She smelled of soap and shampoo.

Breaking his train of thought, two attractive young women approached the pair.

"Excuse me?"

"What?" he asked, tired.

"Are you two the ones who barely avoided getting run over?"

"I guess."

He wished they'd just hurry and go away.

"Oh my gosh!" the two girls – definitely too young for him – exchanged excited looks and squealed. Aomine resisted the notion to plug his ears. Taki, however, did so anyways unafraid of appearing rude, but they didn't seem to notice.

"That was like, so heroic!" Girl A shrieked.

"I love courageous guys like you," the other gushed.

He looked at them uninterestedly, but that didn't seem to discourage them.

"Is she your daughter? She's so cute!"

"Aws, like, she's got your eyes!"

"Like totally," her friend giggled, "Her cheeks look so soft!"

Both of them reached to pinch Taki's face – who in turn spun away, hiding herself with Aomine's shirt – and fawned over the two.

Aomine brushed them off coldly, "Sorry. My 'daughter's' a little tired right now. Could you leave us alone?"

"I'm good with kids though," one of them (he forgot who was and A and who was B at this point) desperately bragged, "Let me hold her for awhile!"

She started tugging at the child who tightened her grip on the man's shirt.

"Come here, cutie pie," the girl ushered, "Let go of your daddy and come here!"

With a stern hand, he pushed her hands off of the uncomfortable child, "I said, could you go?"

His eyes bore right into them, and it made them back off.

"Oh, sorry," they sputtered, before running away.

"He's got a pretty good face but he's scary!" he heard one of them whine.

"It's too bad, I mean, look at that hot body!"

_Like I'd be interested in you kids. If you're going to hit on me, at least have E-cups._

"They're gone," he whispered, down towards Taki and felt her loosen her hold.

"You're not Taki's daddy," she whispered back.

It stung a bit, but he tried to brush it off nonchalantly, "Yeah, I know, sorry."

"I wish you were."

"What?"

She looked at him with longing eyes, and he figured that indeed, he had heard her straight. Uncomfortable and incapable of dealing with the strange atmosphere, he decided to joke with her so that the regular, rude and obnoxious girl would return.

"What, not satisfied with your current one?"

"No," she lightly punched his chin upwards, "Don't be silly, Ahomine."

Although the girl acted like she usually would, her tone was still quiet and serious.

"Then you want two dads?" He was kidding, but her eyes didn't change.

Unamused, she nodded.

Ruffling with her hair he raised an eyebrow, "Shouldn't you be wishing for a mom instead?"

Cursing himself for his lack of tact, he regretted saying that a little too late. Thankfully, she didn't seem affected by the thought of her missing mother (who was actually Kise, but he doubt she knew).

"Papa doesn't need another woman in his life, he only needs me," she said.

Aomine, for a second, thought that it was possessiveness that led her to say that. Before he could talk to her about that though, she carried on.

"Papa is a man, so he protects Taki when things get rough. But Papa can also be weak and vulnerable at times. Taki used to think that Taki could protect papa only if she was older."

"I think you do well even now," he tried to cheer her up sheepishly.

She shook her head forlornly, "No, I can't do anything, and probably never can. No woman can shelter him and give him the security papa needs – _deserves_.

Lowering her voice, she said, earnestly, "Sometimes I wish I was you, even though you're just an Ahomine."

"Me?"

"Yeah. Although stupid, you're big and strong. Papa needs someone big and strong to protect him because I can't."

"You're awfully grown up about this. Here I thought you just didn't want to share the spot light with another girl."

"I'm not a grown up. If I was, papa wouldn't have to cry. I would have been able to shield him all of those times, so he wouldn't need to fake a smile and then shed tears all alone in his room."

She smiled sadly, looking so alike to Kise that it made his heart ache, "Remember that time you hurt papa? If I was grown up, I could have protected him then."

Never, did this young child cease to amaze him. Sometimes, she'd act like a child. Then she'd act like a child but display talent that would brand her as a prodigy. Out of the blue, she'd display maturity beyond her years, as she was doing now. On the outside, it would seem amazing, but for some reason it made his heart hurt.

_Ah, that's right._

Maturity didn't always have to do with personality – knowing Kise and himself, there's no way she would have inherited that trait from them – and in her case, it definitely wasn't a matte of nature. Her high mental development was due to her circumstance. She didn't grow up because she wanted to, but because she had to.

"Sorry," he murmured.

"It's okay. How would you have known..."

_If only you knew..._

"Taki, actually I'm – "

"Time to go, Ahomine," she stopped him mid-sentence and hopped down to the ground, "Papa will be back in ten seconds."

"Huh? What are you..."

"Takicchi! Aominecchi!"

From around the corner, Kise waved to them juggling three cones.

He gave her a look, asking her how she knew.

She smirked and ignored him as if to say "I'm still his number one."

"Ice cream!" Taki suddenly switched back to "Daddy's little girl" mode so quickly that it made the man jump. She ran towards her papa but under her breath muttered, "Don't tell papa about what I said."

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered as he accepted the vanilla ice cream Kise handed him.

Observing the other two, he watched as Taki happily received her own chocolate cone. After, she whispered something about needed to tell Kise a secret and the model brought his face to match her height. Giggling, she pecked him on the cheek, making his whole pale face glow.

_So she can be cute after all._

A mischievous thought popped up and with a sly grin, he snuck up behind Kise who was now smothering the girl with kisses lovingly. Wrapping his arms around the other man's shoulders, he leaned forward and took a bite of her chocolate treat.

"Consider that payment," he smirked.

"You..." she looked at her ice cream and then at him and then back, trying to convince herself that it was just a dream. When she realize it wasn't she burst, "You Ahomine!"

Squirming against a flustered Kise's arms, eventually she was let down. Face red, she pounded his leg with her free hand and jumped to try and eat his. Meanly, he lowered his cone, just low enough for her to almost reach – and then brought it up quickly so that she'd have no chance of getting it.

"That's so not fair!" she complained, "Your height is a cheat!"

Aomine snorted, "It's not a game, you idiot."

She growled at him.

"Hey, look. It's a wild tiger cub. I think we'll need to contact the zoo keepers and put you in a cage."

"Roar," she imitated the call of one which made Kise laugh.

"Papa," she pouted.

"Forgive me, Takicchi. But you were so cute," he winked.

The compliment perked her up and she smiled. Aomine pinched her cheeks and grinned evilly, "Don't get a big head. You weren't that cute."

She stuck her tongue out, "Weren't that cute? So you admit that I am cute!"

"Don't put words in my mouth!"

"Lalalalala! I can't hear you!"

"You brat!"

"A brat shouldn't call someone else a brat!" She sang.

"Don't copy me!"

"You got what you deserved," Kise chimed in, "Takicchi learns really quickly."

"Hmph, just like you," he said, "You had a really annoying copying ability."

"You remember?"

"How could I not?"

Kise felt the blush creep in again and changed the subject, "L-let's go see the animals, before it gets dark."

To the girl, the model asked, "Where should we go first?"

"Let's see the reptiles."

"Eh? Takicchi?"

She denied it, "No, I didn't say anything."

Both of the blondes turned to see Aomine open and close his mouth again, "I said, let's go see the reptiles."

"...I heard nothing, did you papa?"

"Eh? Oh... no..."

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't ignore me!"

"Let's go papa, nothing to see here..."

"Hey – get back here!"

* * *

"I hate you, Ahomine."

"Geez, are you still sulking? How would I have known that you were such a scaredy cat?"

"I-I'm not!" she corrected him, hiding her embarrassment by slamming her head into his shoulder.

"Man, that hurt. You've got a head for a rock?"

"Haha, very funny!" Taki responded, sarcastically.

Evening had come and the sun was setting, casting dark shadows and a chilly wind. Even after all of the fiascos during the afternoon, the three of them were able to see some of the animals. First, they had visited the reptile pavilion, much to Taki's disapproval. Surprisingly, she was afraid of snakes and almost cried when Aomine made Kise hold one during a presentation done by the snake keeper. The girl had yelled that her "papa would be eaten," and nearly fainted when the tanned man brought her face to face with it.

"Come on, we went to see all of your favourites afterwards."

"... The otters were cute," she admitted reluctantly.

"They were, so stop pouting. You won't be popular with guys if you do."

"No one asked you, idiot!"

Kise smiled at their interaction and thought that they really seemed like father and daughter. They quarreled and at first, that unnerved the man. Now, he could see that it was just their way of getting along. A warm feeling spread within him and he couldn't help but wish this moment would last forever.

Forever was short though, as the trio found themselves boarding the train back home. Since it was late, past rush hour, the cars were empty save for one or two couples. Together, they found empty seats near the end of the train car, blocked by a divider so others couldn't see them. The ride was long, and soon Kise felt his eyes getting heavy. Shaking his head, he tried to shake the sleep out of him. Maybe a conversation would keep him awake.

"Takicchi, Aomine – "

In front of him, the larger man was snoring with his arms and legs crossed, head back against the seat. Their daughter was in deep sleep, head resting against Aomine, with the latter's jacket wrapped around her for warmth.

The announcer stated the next stop, which Kise recognized as the one before theirs. Standing up, he put a hand on the other man and tried to wake him.

"Aominecchi, wake up. We have to get off soon."

The blue haired man grumbled, "A little longer, Kise."

His face was so peaceful, so handsome. The model felt all of the old emotions swell up. Leaning in, he closed his eyes and tilted his head, kissing Aomine with a deep desire. He forced open the sleeping man's mouth and felt their tongues entwine. Pulling away, he opened his eyes, and found dark blue eyes right in front of his own amber ones.

"Kise?"

His blood grew cold and he felt frozen as ice.

"What did you just...?" Aomine touched his lips, still half asleep.

"Oh," the tanned man paused, and looked up at him with eyes that showed him slowly understanding, "Did you just ki – "

"Ahahahahahahaha!" Kise laughed awkwardly and scooped up the still sleeping child, "L-look at that! It's my stop! I've got to go. Thanks for today Aominecchi. See you next time, hahahaha."

The automatic doors opened and Kise ran out. Confused, Aomine sat there and only got up when he heard the warning chime. Bolting out of his seat, he ran to exit but the doors slammed shut, and he smacked face first into them. With his face smashed against the glass, he could make out the blonde running towards the stairs, face hidden behind the body of the slumbering child. Giving up, he sat back down his seat and touched his lips once more.

_It was warm, _he thought, _his lips were wet and warm._

_And they were pressed against mine._

Covering his mouth with one of his large, tanned hands, he felt the familiar heat rush to the back of his neck and the tips of his ears.

_He just kissed me, right? _

He pinched his biceps.

_Nope, not dreaming._

* * *

A/N: Their first "date" in five years and all of that happens! Haha. Kise took the initiative for that this time. I actually don't have much to say about this chapter so I'll just end it here. Right, please excuse me if this chapter has more grammar or spelling mistakes or whatnot. I didn't have much time to re-proofread it and I wanted to release today /. Hope you enjoyed it, nevertheless! ;D

Regarding future updates though, I really won't be able to update as quickly anymore. I underestimated my work load urggh. I plan on updating at least weekly though~ Hopefully that'll work out. My weekends are usually free for me to just sit and write ~~

Until next time, with love!


	9. Chapter 9: I Really, Really Love You

_"A-Aominecchi! Hi, um, well, y-you're here for Takicchi, right? Here, take her! Me? Oh, no, I've got um, a job. The work schedules for a model are hectic, you know? You two have fun now..."_

...Or so Kise had said while laughing away nervously before bolting out the door, leaving the pro to lock up a house that wasn't even his. Eye twitching, Aomine slammed the door shut and grunted. So much or any progress he thought he had made. Thinking back to the previous week, he tenderly touched his lips, heart fluttering when he remembered the surprise kiss the blonde had planted on him. He had been happy and excited – so eager to push ahead at maximum speed... but as a result Kise has withdrawn from him. Adding up all the ignored texts and phone calls in his head, Aomine felt disappointed as he realized that he seemed like a stalker more than anything else.

Hanging his head low, he took a seat on the top step of the porch and crossed his arms over his legs. A gentle force probed between his arms though, creating a crack between them which allowed blindingly bright sunshine to filter through.

"Leave me alone, brat."

Blue eyes stared at him in discontent, "When are we going to get going? Papa said you'd take me somewhere super fun."

"Your papa lied."

Taki narrowed her eyes and twisted her lips in disbelief, "What do you even come here for?"

"Who knows."

She crossed her arms and started tapping her right foot impatiently, "You definitely don't come to play with Taki. No matter what papa says, Taki knows better."

"Right, 'cause you're such a genius."

Scowling, she hopped down the steps, away from him.

Focusing back on his thoughts, he wondered about his life. What was he doing wrong? It was as if he took one step forward and three steps back. At this rate, what will he be able to accomplish in his remaining weeks? Okay, he didn't seriously think that he'd bring the girl with him. Rather, he didn't really even_ have_ a goal, nor, did he even know exactly what he wanted out of this. Everything he's done so far was impulsive, simply because he had wanted to be around the blonde – to go back to how they were before.

_Go back, huh..._

Too much thinking and yet still not getting anymore irritated him. Resigning, he looked up, searching for the little blonde. At the very least, chasing after her could relieve his mind from the agonizing process of ruminating. Shielding his eyes from the relentless sunlight, he discovered the girl crouching near a patch of soil, poking intently at something with a stick she had found laying around.

"What are you doing?"

"Having fun," she sulked, cheeks puffing out unhappily.

"That's fun?" He started to poke her, which made the child slap his hand away.

"More fun than hanging out with you."

"What a tomboy," he sighed, "Wouldn't you rather go play dress-up or whatever other girls your age play?"

"Shut up, you Ahomine. What I do for fun is none of your business. Besides, why do I have to do what other people do? I'm not them."

_Touché,_ he thought.

Feeling some guilt, he stood up and picked her up – her little feet dangling in the air.

"Let go of me, you big old perv!" she squiggled around and whined.

"Fine. Just drop that stick and follow me. Time to go."

Her frown instantly turned upside down and he let go. Adjusting her little sun hat, she beamed at him, "Where are we going?"

Grimacing from the innocence of her expectant eyes, he said apathetically, "Wherever you want to go, I don't know."

If his lack of enthusiasm affected the spirit of the young girl, she didn't show it. Excitedly, she clasped both of her pale hands over one of his large ones and tugged him.

"The park! Come on, Ahomine, let's go play at the park!"

"Well, you're surprisingly easy to please," he remarked, but followed her lead, "If you grow up like this, your future boyfriend will have an easy time."

The two of them walked in the warm sunlight. Taki was humming to a unfamiliar song and skipping. Despite the roaring of the cars and the miscellaneous sounds from the animals, Aomine couldn't get his mind off of the tune the child was making. It was so catchy, and his curiosity got the best of him.

"What is that song anyways?"

"What song?"

"The one you've been humming for the past minute."

She smiled at him, "Oh! It's Papa's song. He wrote it!"

"Kise?" The blue haired man furrowed his brow. He's never seen the other man as a lyrical person.

"You want me to sing it? Taki can sing really well!"

"Uh, no. It's oka – "

Too late.

"K.I.S.E Shalala~!"

"The hell?" Aomine stopped her, "What the hell is shalala?"

"Shalala is shalala, don't be a dumbie!" she pouted, "Now, let me continue."

"No, no... it's okay."

Stubbornly, she ignored his protests and continued singing.

_Ah, damn it. Why does the park feel further than ever before...?_

* * *

"Kurokocchi! Kurokocchi!" Kise shook the smaller man's shoulders frantically, much to the other man's displeasure, "Takicchi is singing! Isn't she wonderful?"

"What would be wonderful is if you'd stop shaking me, Kise-kun."

"Hmm? Oh, right. Sorry!"

"Rather," a eerie voice popped up and the model turned to see a pissed off Akashi, "What are you doing, calling us here to stalk Daiki?"

"S-stalking? It's more like chaperoning..." Kise squirmed, guiltily.

"Why don't you go chaperone up there, with them? Instead of hiding behind while watching them."

"It's extremely creepy, Kise-kun. What would Taki-san say if she found out her papa was this disturbing?"

Akashi smirked, "Probably something along the lines as 'I don't want to put my laundry with dad's anymore,' or 'Stop talking to me in public dad! You're gross!"

"Noooo," the blonde man cried, "Don't say anymore!"

Disregarding the man's outbursts, although he would have loved to tease the man more, Kuroko asked, "Did something happen when you went out with Aomine-kun?"

Kise-kun pulled up his thin scarf to hide the faint blush that was appearing on his cheeks.

"Not really..."

The red-head yanked the accessory off and said, "Ryouta, are you trying to lie? In my presence?"

"I'm sorry!" he shouted, before remembering that they were supposed to be stealthy. Immediately, he covered his mouth, ducked down and scanned the area to make sure neither of their targets had heard him.

"Well?" Akashi looked down with his threatening eyes.

"I kissed him."

"So?"

"H-how can you act so indifferently!" he flailed his arms in embarrassment, "It's a big deal for me..."

"Ryouta, you went way further with Daiki back in the day," Akashi said plainly.

"To the point of being annoying," Kuroko added, "I remember that time when we all had to leave the locker room because Aomine-kun started – "

"Gyaaah!" Kise screamed, red from the memory.

Akashi slapped a hand over Kise's mouth and pushed him down as they saw Aomine turn around.

Thankfully, being the idiot he was, he forgot quickly about it and entered the park with the little girl.

"Ryouta, you're such a fool."

"It's all because of Kurokocchi," he whined, "Don't bring up stuff like that!"

"You shouldn't blame others for your own stupidity, Kise-kun."

"So mean."

His amber eyes were cast down and he murmured to himself.

"Hmm? What was that, Ryouta?"

A sad shadow flickered behind his eyes. "Is this really all right?"

"Is what all right?"

"After all I've done, after all of the hurt I caused him...Aominecchi still says that he doesn't hate me. Even all of this time, he still chases after me, no matter how hard I try to withdraw. Somehow, I can't help but get greedy and I feel myself slipping into his kind eyes. Is it really all right?"

"Would you have felt better if he did hate you?" Akashi said in a low voice.

"Maybe," Kise thought about it for a moment, "If he got angry, maybe I wouldn't feel this guilty."

Smacking the model on his forehead, Kuroko sighed, "Kise-kun is stupid and a coward."

"That hurts, Kurokocchi," he whined as he rubbed the reddening marks.

"Tetsuya is correct, though. What you're doing now – isn't it running away?"

Kise flinched, "Then what am I supposed to do? Letting him sweep me off my feet again? ... Wouldn't that just me taking advantage of him? I hurt him so much, for so long, am I even allowed to be happy?"

Kuroko raised a hand and Kise flinch, just as the smaller man patted him, "I suppose we can add selfish to the list."

The blonde opened his mouth to ask about that but was cut off, "Chasing after you is something Aomine-kun chose to do himself. Wouldn't that mean that loving you again is what will make him happy? You've only been thinking about yourself, and how it'd make you look. If you really treasure him, why don't you suck it up and play the part of the villain? Or, do are your feelings so shallow that you care more about your image?"

Kise let the words sink in and thought about them long and hard. Was the blue haired man right? Was he choosing the easy way out – the path with less pain? Perhaps he's been trying to run away after all, away from the guilt.

"So, Ryouta? Your answer."

Kise pulled his scarf up, despite the heat and closed his eyes, thinking long and hard.

"I'm still not convinced that I should be allowed to love again... and I'm unsure of whether or not we can still work. We're both grown men with jobs and a child to boot. I can't act anymore selfish... but I love him. I love Aominecchi so much it hurts."

"Good. All we needed to hear."

"What – hey!"

In a stealthy movement, Akashi had pulled Kise up and on his feet and was now dragging the man towards the park.

"Akashicchi! What are you doing?"

"You love him, so you're ready to turn around and meet him halfway, right?"

"It's too soon, Akashicchi," he panicked, "I'm not ready yet."

With a firm kick, the former captain smiled, "It's never too soon."

Kise landed face first onto warm sand, and had to cough the particles of rock out. Pushing his body up to sit upright, he felt the sun's ray disappear momentarily, and rubbed his eyes. Opening them he saw a familiar body blocking the sun.

"Akashi?" a deep voice called out, "and Kise – wait, didn't you say you had a job to go to?"

"It's been cancelled, right, Ryouta?"

"Um yeah..." Kise couldn't keep his eyes off the hulking man before him.

"Well then, he's all yours, Daiki."

"Akashicchi!"

"Hey, it's papa!"

Kise was panicking as Taki ran into his arms, and couldn't even open his mouth to holler out as Akashi left, leaving the man to stare awkwardly at Aomine.

* * *

Kise sat alone on the swing, swaying lightly along with the wind alone. From across the playground, he watched as Taki laughed in delight while Aomine pushed her up high. He'd have loved to join them, but wasn't sure of what to do. To the sadistic couple, he had said that he loved the other man too... and also agreed with Kuroko that he was just running away, but what should he do in this situation? The atmosphere was so awkward and he didn't know how to interact normally with the tanned man. If only heaven could give him a sign...

**Thonk.**

"Ouch!"

Something fairly hard smacked against Kise's head.

"Oi, Kise, you okay?"

Aomine and Taki came running towards him, wearing matching worried expressions.

"Yeah," he opened his eyes and peered down. Something round, rubber and orange was in his hands.

Tanned arms appeared before his eyes and scooped the ball away, "A basketball?"

A group of teenage boys ran towards them, bowing their heads low, "Hey! Sorry, but could you give that back?"

"Geez, watch where you throw this thing," Aomine scolded.

"We are very sorry!"

The pro sighed and tossed the ball back. Together, they watched as the group of friends ran back.

"You sure you're okay?" Gently, the man rubbed the model's head, searching for bumps. Kise moved quickly away and mumbled, "Y-yeah."

"Basketball, huh?" Aomine cracked his neck, "I haven't been able to play a decent game since I came back."

Taki glared at him, "Excuse me! You play against me every day!"

"Yeah," he scoffed, "You don't count as a 'decent' game."

"Why? I'm good," she pouted, "Right papa?"

Ruffling her soft, long hair, he absentmindedly nodded, "Yeah."

"You're not being very convoncing..." she sulked.

"Sorry, Takicchi."

Upset, she moved away, "Papa should play Ahomine then. Teach him a lesson."

"I don't think so, Takicchi," he smiled, "Papa isn't in the proper clothes... and we don't have a ball."

"We can go home first."

"He's just afraid he'll lose." It just naturally slipped out of Aomine's mouth.

"What'd you say, idiot?" The fire was lit in her eyes, "He'll crush you!"

She turned to Kise, and with eyes that no one could refuse said, "Papa. You can win, right? _Right?_"

He shifted his eyes away, "Y-yeah..."

_Ah, I should've just said no..._

Twenty minutes and a lot of dreading later, Kise stood in his baggy t-shirt and basketball shorts, bent over to tie his shoelaces. It was a nostalgic feeling, being in those clothes and having warmed up. Unlike the tanned pro in front of him who was spinning his basketball, the model hadn't played seriously for several years, since his freshman days at Kaijo. Juggling a job and child didn't leave him with much free time.

"Ready, Kise?" Aomine began bouncing the ball, sending a declaration of war.

"As ready as I'll ever be," he said sheepishly.

Lowering his stance, his muscles remembered the familiar feeling of basketball. Focusing on the man before him, he watched his every move. _Bounce, bounce, bounce – _

Swiftly, the pro moved, dribbling the ball with him as he made quick turns to get past Kise's defence which, honestly, was pretty low quality. Watching powerlessly, the blonde froze while the tanned man ran past him and performed a fade-away.

"You've gotten better," he smiled, in awe – his old flame for basketball reigniting.

"Obviously," Aomine picked up the ball and passed it to the model, snorting, "You've gotten worst – way worst."

Catching the basketball, his eye twitched, "No need to point out the obvious."

Their game continued, back and forth although Kise played rather poorly. Point after point Aomine scored. Kise made a couple basket's himself, but found it difficult to get past the pro player. Aomine was faster, stronger and overall so much better. Far too soon, the game had ended.

"Papa..." Taki sat wide-eyed with blatant disappointment painted on her face.

Huffing, Kise tried to ignore the wound on his pride.

"Huh," the basketball pro wasn't even out of breath, or sweating for the matter, "Is this all you amount to? What a let down."

"S-shut up Ahomine! Papa is just warming up..."

Kise looked surprised at his daughter's outburst and sighed. There was no way he could end this while looking so uncool.

"Hey, Aominecchi?"

"What?"

"One more time."

The three words brought years of memories back and Aomine smirked.

"Bring it."

* * *

Replacing the warm sun was the softly glowing moon and twinkling stars. Although the day had been warm, the breeze had become more chilly than cold. Laying on the court's pavement, Kise breathed heavily, in unison with the other man.

"You really improve quickly," Aomine huffed.

Kise smiled, "I was just regaining the skills that had gotten rusty."

"Still," the other man sighed exasperatedly, "No one should be able to get better at the rate you went."

Turning onto his side, Kise laughed, "I still couldn't beat you though."

"Even before I left, you've never beaten me. How could you have expected to won this time?"

"Oooh, don't remind me! Brings me back to our second year at Teiko. I always played with all my might but couldn't even score a point off of you."

Aomine grunted, "Back then, you were even worst than now. I couldn't even call what you played basketball."

"Haha, that's so mean, Aomiecchi."

His chime-like laugh faded into the silence of the night, and Kise could hear the other man sit up. Following his lead, Kise tried standing up, although faltering a little on his tired legs. A strong arm grabbed hold of him and steadied the model.

"Thanks," he murmured.

Aomine turned his face away, "Don't mention it."

Together, the two men walked over to the tree where the blonde child slept peacefully, wrapped in Aomine's sweater. The pro passed the ball he carried and reached down to carry the girl.

"Allow me," Kise quickly said, "I can carry Takicchi."

"And what will you do if you collapse? You're in no shape to bear anymore weight other than your own."

The blonde hated to admit it, but he was right. His entire body ached and he was ready to crash onto his soft bed. Obediently, he walked side by side to Aomine – slightly leaning on the man – who princess-carried Taki all the way home. Reaching the metal gate, the tanned man continued holding the girl and so Kise led him upstairs where both of them tucked her in.

Stepping out of the room, Kise whispered, "Would you like anything to drink or eat?"

Aomine shook his head, "Nah, I'll return to my hotel room."

"Let me walk you out."

Silently, both of them made their way out the front door and to the gate.

Stopping there, Aomine said his goodbye.

"Ah –wait," Kise pulled on the pro's t-shirt.

"You need something?"

"Yes – I mean no," he inhaled deeply, "I just wanted to thank you."

"For what?"

"Thanks for taking us to the zoo the other day. Thank you for playing one-on-ones with me today. And," he hesitated, "Thank you for not hating me."

"Anything else?"

Kise felt his heart flutter, and he debated whether or not to tell the man the last thing on his mind. He stood still for awhile, not moving and wondered if the man would walk away. Aomine stood still however, patiently waiting.

"Lastly," he murmured, lowering his already quiet voice into a whisper, "I missed you. Thank you for coming back."

Kise didn't immediately hear a response, and he checked his grip on the man's shirt, afraid that maybe he had disappeared. When he was sure that the pro was still present, he looked up.

"Do you remember that day we played basketball until it rained?"

Kise searched his memory and found it, "The one where we ran back here and then I.. ah.. ki...kissed... you."

He felt the butterflies in his stomach return and his face heated up.

"Yeah," the man's face relaxed and came closer to Kise's, "I could never forget that kiss."

Putting his palms against the other man's chest, the blonde tried to turn away, but warm hands held his face.

"Can you hear it?"

Through his hands, Kise could feel the reverberating thump of Aomine's heart, "It's fast..."

"Only when I'm with you."

Strong lips kissed him tenderly, as if he was something precious and easily broken. Kise bathed in the sweetness of the moment and felt the warmth spread down his body, his body reacted involuntarily. It was such a familiar sensation – so normal and natural, even if they haven't kissed like this in years. It made him feel so irrational and happy that when Aomine pulled away, Kise felt disappointingly cold.

Blank-minded from the head-spinning inducing kiss, the blonde only returned to a normal state of mind when the frosty wind grew stronger. Shivering, he said "I've got to go, Aominecchi," he murmured.

"Not yet. Let me talk."

"Aominecchi, I'm cold."

"Then I'll warm you up."

With his strong arms, Aomine held the other man's body close, so that Kise's back was firmly pressed against his own chest. Those long, tanned arms of him wrapped around the model's thinner body and he nuzzled his neck against his neck.

"I still love you, and I still want you," Aomine exhaled, warm breath tickling Kise's cheek, "You can push me away if you don't want me."

_Push him, Kise, push him._ But he didn;t.

"I want to hold you, to kiss you, to make love to you until the morning light. You can tell me to not."

_Tell him, Kise. You know better._

Tilting the blonde's head to meet his lips, Aomine kissed him lightly, "Do you want me to stop?"

_Say yes, Kise. Just say it._

Those eyes poured into him, ensnaring him. Deeper than any ocean, he found himself drowning in those dark blue irises. All of the barely suppressible feelings he held began overfilling, and flooded out of him. Heart aching, will wavering, his lips trembled as he tried to speak. With glazed eyes, he mumbled, "No."

Shaking his head, regaining his voice, he continued, "No, I don't want you to stop. I want you to hold me, to touch me, to kiss me. I want you to shove me onto my bed and do all sorts of things to me all night long. I want you to hold me until we're old and wrinkly, and not let go of me even then. I never want to have to say goodbye again, not even for a moment. I know it's selfish but..."

He paused, trying hard to not let his voice crack, "You're just_ too_ unfair, Aominecchi. Why did you have to come back? Since I saw you on the courts that day, I dreamed about you every night. I knew I shouldn't have, I knew that I didn't deserve to, but I just couldn't help myself. I thought about you, about your eyes, your voice, your touch – I don't even know how I could live without you. I don't know how I _lived_ without you."

Silently tipping over the edges of his golden eyes, warm tears fell slowly, staining his red cheeks. Watching the blonde, Aomine released his grip on the man before spinning him around so he could embrace him face-to-face. With a tender expression, Aomine kissed him again, gently and lovingly like that day, so many years ago. This time, Kise didn't resist at all and returned the other man's passion with his own. Letting himself sink in the stability and love of the blue-haired man, the blonde wrapped his arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. In response, Aomine tightened his arms around the model's waist, keeping him tight against his own body to the point that Kise was nearly suffocating.

"I love you, Kise."

His deep voice whispered sweet words into his ears, and Kise felt his armour being chipped away continuously. Impossible – yes, it was absolutely impossible, for him not to drop his guard and let the other man bare him (both metaphorically and literally) as their kisses drew deeper. Even in the cold wind, their skin flamed with heat, igniting the night. Each touch, each kiss, each breath – they all expressed the unfathomable amount of pent-up emotions both men had kept inside. Words would have cheapened the moment, and they telepathically knew that. They let their bodies speak, and melded on the king-size bed that night. All of the loneliness and pain of the last five years was bled out, exposed raw in the heat of their love.

Breathing heavily and deeply, their sweat glistened in the midnight moon as they collapsed into each other's arms. Kise's body ached, his mind tired and weary too, but he could not name a moment where he felt happier than this. Climbing on top of the tanned man, he leaned his face down so their foreheads touched.

"You're crying again," the larger man whispered, tongue outstretching to lick the single drop.

The other man shook his head and cradled Aomine's head, "I'm happy."

Stroking his face, the tanned man then pulled him down onto his chest and inhaled the sweet smell of his.

"Goddammit Kise, I..."

With the softest touch, Kise kissed him lightly, subtly silencing him. His eyes glowed in the faint moonlight and shimmered. "It's my turn."

Never breaking eye contact, the blonde's pale hand reached for Aomine's, clasping it tightly. Bringing their entwined fingers up to his mouth, Kise kissed each one.

"Thank you for the memories," he murmured after kissing the man's pinkie.

"Thank you for loving me."

"Thank you for coming back."

"Thank you for forgiving me."

"And," he paused before kissing Aomine's last finger, "Thank you for letting me love you."

After this, Kise looked back at the man's face.

"Geez, Kise, don't do something so embarrassing," was what he said, but there was no denying the happiness glowing behind his dark eyes.

Holding the man's hand to his own pale face, Kise laid his head down against the man's chest, comforted by the synchronized beating of their hearts.

"I love you, too, Aominecchi ... I really,_ really_, love you."

* * *

***Scroll down past my A/N if you want to go straight to the AkaKuro short side story***

A/N: Sorry that this chapter was a little all over the place. Kise finally admitted his feelings ~ :3 Once again, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, I personally did. It's kind of a transition chapter because we'll be heading into the final arc of the story.

Btw, the song Taki was singing is "Shalala Goes On" and is the second character song for Kise... I just really like it okay xD

Thank you all for waiting so long ~.~

ALSO! Here's a little side story. It's Akakuro smut, although a pretty short one. I wasn't sure whether to post this separately, but consider it a little something from me to you :D (OTL okay fine... I just really wanted to write it kays xD)

It takes place shortly after Kise is shoved by Akashi. Honestly, I've been dying to write it...

I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and the side story!

* * *

**Start of AkaKuro Side Story**

"Will it really be okay to leave them along, Akashi-kun?"

Akashi looked at his lover and calmly stated, "If I say everything will be fine, it will be. You know that best, Tetsuya."

Kuroko still looked worried, and fell deep into thought. Trying to get the other man to lighten up, the red-head asked, "Where should we go for lunch? Would you prefer French, Italian, or a traditional Japanese meal?"

Dazed, the smaller man didn't respond.

"Tetsuya?"

After a couple of attempts, Kuroko still didn't respond. Annoyed, Akashi took a sudden turn which snapped the man's attention back to reality as his head slammed into the window.

"Aren't we going to eat, Akashi-kun? This is the opposite direction of your favourite places."

Serenely, he said, "Eating can wait. We'll take a detour."

Unable to take his mind off of Kise's situation, Kuroko paid no heed to the road and mindlessly rubbed his head. Hopefully, there wouldn't be a bump later.

The situation between Kise and Aomine caused his to fret, as it was so fragile and unstable. Kuroko worried that at any given moment, it'd just collapse. He recounted sadly of the day Aomine left for America, and how torn both of them were. According to Kagami, the aspiring pro skipped meals and focused only on basketball to elevate his hurt. As for the model, Kuroko had seen first-hand the toll child-bearing had on the man. If the pain of losing his lover wasn't already enough, the poor boy had to deal with hormones, and the symptoms all by himself. Kise had nearly given up on several different occasions... he had almost reached his limit and broken down. When things got too much, it was Kuroko who watched as the blonde man cried his heart out – something that the rest of the world almost never saw. Although he had received support, Kuroko remembered of the criticism the man had gotten from a certain someone as well...

"We're here," Akashi's voice rang out suddenly.

Distractedly, Kuroko got out of the car and followed the footsteps of his man's. Still ruminating on the past, he collided with Akashi's still back after walking a short distance.

"The pent house suite, for today. Put it on my tab."

"Thank you very much for your patronage, Akashi-sama. Here is your key."

"Key?" finally, the blue haired man returned to his senses and scanned his surroundings. Unknowingly, they had entered a rather posh hotel lobby.

"What do we need here, Akashi-kun?"

The other man stared blankly at him, and then grabbed his hand, leading the two of them into the elevator.

"Akashi-ku – "

Akashi stopped him from speaking by pushing his lips onto the smaller man's. Roughly, he stuck his tongue powerfully between Kuroko's slightly parted lips and forced the other's mouth open.

"Akashi-kun," he moaned, "Not here..."

"I can't hold it in anymore, Tetsuya," his voice made Kuroko melt, and he stumbled backwards, grabbing onto the rail that was attached to the elevator wall for support.

"We're in public..."

"I don't care," Akashi slid a hand downwards, skilfully unzipping the smaller man's pants. Kuroko tried to push the man's hands away, but to no avail.

"Always going on about Ryouta and Daiki – don't get me wrong, I wish for their happiness as well," the red-head murmured, hand slithering down cloth to grab hold of his lover's cock, "What I don't like, is how you keep denying me, Tetsuya. I've been deprived of you for so long."

"Nng..." Kuroko squirmed at his touch, heat rising whenever Akashi stroked him. Truth was, he didn't even realize how long it's been since they made love, not until Akashi touched him like this.

"That's why today, you'll spend all day with me. I expect both your mind and body to be here," Akashi bit the tip of the other man's ear and grinned as he heard the low groan, "Or else, I'll have to make you."

"S-stop, please stop," the blue-haired man moan as he heard the ding of the elevator. The doors opened and a flirting couple started to get on. Akashi pushed Kuroko behind him, shielding him and snarled, "We're busy here. Take the next one," and pushed the button to close the door.

"Now there's no need to stop," he murmured, and got on his knees.

Panting, the smaller man leaned forward, cock throbbing so hard that he thought he'd topple over.

"Tetsuya, you're so hard. Is it my imagination, or does doing this in public excite you even more?"

He wanted to deny it, but Akashi was making him feel so good that all that came out was a breathy, suppressed grunt.

"So thick," Akashi mused, "you haven't even done it yourself, have you?"

"Unn... " the man's voice came out breathily, "What about Akashi-kun?"

"There's no pleasure if Tetsuya isn't with me. I can only feel like this when it's you. Can you feel it?"

Kuroko groaned and helt his whole body heat up again when he felt the red-head push their hips together. His lover was hard too and so hot.

Body sweaty and face flushed, Kuroko could only pant. Akashi chuckled and put the other man's arm around him, half dragging him out.

"We're not even in the room yet and you've already came. I suppose I'll need to punish you," he said, seductively as he led them into their room. Slowly the door closed, with the faint noises of moaning coming from inside.


End file.
